Morocco Pïctures

So here are the pictures that I took with captions as promised and as soon as Alix loads her's (and the videos) on to the computer I'll set up those in albums and as soon as Hervé and Chantal send me there photos I shall do the same. Love you all tons, NINETEEN DAYS!!!!!
Gros Bisous,
Jane

Morocco Part 1 (MY pics)

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2386&l=cd059&id=504021617

Morocco Part 2 (MY pics again)

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2387&l=a9ff7&id=504021617

Morocco (April 14th - April 28th)

Everyone looks wrecked after two weeks of cold, drip-drip-drip showers, sleeping in tents and driving endless hours on deserted, rocky, bumpy roads. All of that and all I can say is I would give anything ANYTHING to have that kind of experience just once more in my life. This picture was taken last night when we stopped for dinner near Grenada, Spain and listened to Sk8r Boi by Avril Lavigne. FYI our "restaurant" was an old Spanish gas station. Talk about atmosphere!!!

So, this blog is going to be a day to day summary as I wrote a day to day log throughout the trip and I will try to make it as interesting as possible.......

Friday April 13th - We left the house at 6:30 pm and after making one return trip (Philippe forgot his shorts on the kitchen table) we were off, we arrived in Spain around 9:30 and were at Barcelona around 11. After a bumpy, fast, sleepless night we arrived in Grenada, Spain around 6 am where we met with Hervé and Chantal, our companions in their own four wheel drive. We took the ferry around noon and arrived after crossing the Gibraltar (sp??) in Algeciras (or maybe that was where we started in Spain?) and arrived at our first destination of Chefchaouen on Saturday April 14ths. We walked around the markets and bought a towel (I forgot mine so my first shower was with a tshirt, just to tell you, not the best method) and ate and slept, everyone being pretty tired from our overnighter. To top off that wonderful first day (I hate that day so much because I was tired and didnt really enjoy it, the only good moment was driving through the African mountains with my head out the window and feeling truly at peace) I lost a flip flop which I never regained. MY FAVOURITE!!!!!!

Sunday April 15th - We packed up and had a breakfast of croissants and pain au chocolat and then headed through the mountains. I had a yummy Sardine tajin for lunch in Zoumi but that whole meal was annoying because we were the only girls out in the village so we were stared at, whistled at and mocked in Arabic (I know this because one man was kind enough to translate). The lunch was good though, it was tomatoes and spicy oil sauce and lemons and sardines and potatoes and I loved it!!!!!!!!!!! We arrived in Fes that night though and had brochettes for dinner (after a long hassle about where we would sit to eat the brochettes!!) and fell into our beds at our second camping residence.

Monday April 16th - I ate an early breakfast of nutella on bread and then spent the morning with the adults in the "medina" in Fes (Justine, Aurore and Alix elected to stay behind) and ate really good strawberries and oranges (which I am addicted to now, no more clementines for this Canadian! Stock up mumma pls) and then watched the whole animal skin drying and cleaning process, which was interesting, if not smelly. We had a yummy tajin (AGAIN) for lunch and then drove through the forest. We got lost several times and debated giving up and sleeping with the adorable monkeys, however in the end the rain convinced us to drive to Midelt and find a hotel. We had yummy chicken wing like things made of pig and then played rummy (every freaking day now) until we fell asleep in our hotel which was crawling with ants and had no hot water or heater!!!!!

Tuesday April 17th - Big day!!! I had a freezing shower which I repeated about a zillion times on the trip and ate sugar and bread and a hardboiled egg (rhyming is cool Jane you loser) for breakfast. We then drove through the death hills (swear to god I thought I was going to die, that whole ride I was like I can't die until I see my family CANT CANT CANT WILL NOT REFUSE TO and miraculously enough I didnt) We ate in a mountain village and almost got blown away by the wind after that and screamed loudly to French Celine Dion, which is much more tolerable than English Celine Dion. Finally tired of watching endless processions of kids ask me for pens and candy I bought candy and began tossing it out the windows (WOW Aurore has bad aim) We stayed that night in a tiny hotel in Agoudal (it hailed and this year they lost 150 children to the cold, I cried a little) and ate a weird chunky soup which caused me to spend the whole night up with Alix who puked her guts out (the first of many times on this trip) We played spoons and I did some science homework and drank mint tea and tried not to count the days (In the end I was successful and stopped couting).

Wednesday April 18th - Emma turns 14 and Rebecca turns 12!!! Happy Birthday my pretties!!!! Today I climbed up to the salt mines and looked around aand then spent pretty much the whole day in the car before arriving at the desert!!!!!!!!!! It was more rocky than sand, I'm told Tunisia is where you go for the sand deserts. Anyhow, we stayed at Le Petit Prince and were serenaded with nice music, got our first hot showers, had the best tajin of the whole trip and then ated oranges and banana with cinnamon for dessert and watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in French. What a day!!!!

Thursday April 19th - A pretty interesting day as well. We played in the sand dunes in the morning and then showered again and hung around some jewellery stores. We then drove out into the desert and wound up deserting our plan of going farther in when we came across a Swiss man and his German wife stuck in the desert and spent two hours gettting them out with the help of a creepy Moroccan guy, three wide eyed Belgium motorcyclists and a guy with a tractor. It was an interesting culmination (sp?) of countries. We didn't get that much sleep that night though because some Moroccan people hung around our tents and creeped us out a lot. But we had pasta, which was a nice change for tajins and brochettes and that was nice!!

Friday April 20th - The desert is not the funnest place to sleep if you like to sleep in. We were woken up by the sun and Philppe at 6 am and were plagued with more car troubles!! We had to help a car start and then spent an hour stuck in a hot place with no shade when Hervé and Chantal's tire went flat. STUPID STONES!!! We arrived at our camping that night where I was waylayed by a Moroccan who decided that he liked me and gave me his email address, offered me free internet use and then hung off me for pretty much the whole time at the camping, it was very creepy I tell you!!!! Anyway, I got an email (however brief) to my mum which was nice. And I bought to nice silver necklaces with stories (history to them) and slept in Zagora where we had our second hot showers, which was very nice after spending that night in the desert with all the sand and dust and SCORPIONS!!! eugh.....

Saturday April 21st - Gave me my first good, decent, wonderful sleep in ages. And although creepy guy still hung around I had fun and spent the afternoon watching Spiderman 1 and 2 in the car, got me all revved up for Spidey3. Anyway, the day was nice and we slept in D'Ait Ben Haddou where they filmed parts of "Gladiator" and our server looked like John Travolta in Grease and made me laugh and laugh and laugh and I couldn't stop. It was nice!!!

Sunday April 22nd - I climbed to the top of the tourist attraction in D'Ait Ben Haddou which tuckered me out!!!!! After we drove into the mountains and we ate lunch at a nice mountain village and then arrived in Marrakech that night and walked around being all touristy in the evening until 10. People kept trying to get us to eat dinner at their place and it was funny because we told one guy we had already eaten and he patted us on the stomach and said but your so skinny and you should eat twice, which made us laugh.

Monday April 23rd - ANOTHER WARM SHOWER!!!! Anyway, we hennaed our hands (Chantal took pictures of that so when I get those I'll put them up) and it will last (should last) until I get home in Canada and it's pretty cool. We shopped and walked around the Soukh which is like a crowed bunch of streets where they sell things cheaply (or expensively depending on what you want!!) We had ice cream for lunch and then I watched Hercules all afternoon in our slightly air conditioned room because it was boiling out. That evening we had the worst seafood I have ever eaten for dinner and I wanted to gag it was so greasy, but it was still a nice break from tajins and brochettes.

Tuesday April 24th - We drove all the way to Azilal today and did some more scary hills that were so bad I had to get out and walk half the way because I thought the car was going to tip over. After that we ditched camping plans and stayed in a nice hotel and ate pasta for dinner and did absolutely nothing (except leave the portable dvd player and mini tv there!!! Although they said they're mailing it!!!) Walking home from the restaurant though I was "stalked" by two creepy Moroccan dudes. So while most are very nice and hospitable, some are just downright creepy.

Wednesday April 25th - We left Azilal (Chantal and Hervé parted ways for the coast) and we went through some gorgeous hillsides (atleast twenty of my pictures are from that ride!!!) and had yummy ham sandwiches for lunch by a nice waterfall and some gorgeous scenic routes. We arrived in a nice mountain village that evening and stayed in a tiny "home hotel" where we all slept in one room on mats on the floor and ate yummy couscous and soup. The owner's daughter Ptisam (sp?) is 2 and a half and she followed me around and touched all my things and then had a pillow fight with us but it took awhile to earn her trust because I don't speak any Arabic except for Salaam (hello) and Belak (watch out or something like that).

Thursday April 26th - we hung out around the market in the little mountain village (with all the goats) before leaving and arriving late in Chefchaouen (again! we did a little loop de loop) and waking up early to head home Friday. We arrived this morning at seven am where I had a bowl of cereal with milk, which I havent had in two weeks and then a yummy salad at lunch and I showered and cut my nails and washed every inch of me and changed into fresh clothes for the first time in five days and I AM CLEAN!!!

THAT, ladies and gents is my story. It is my two weeks in Morocco but it has significant gaps which are hard to write but easier to tell, so next time you lay eyes on me (soon I hope!!!) ask me if you want and I will tell, but my hands are sore from typing out emails and messages and now this blog and I am finally feeling the effects of not sleeping last night. So................a bientot as I excuse myself to go repose a little. The pictures for Morocco will be up soon I hope, but probably not until tonight or tomorrow because I am going to write captions and stories for each of them and that cannot be rushed!!!

Gros Bisous from your avid "no longer mia" blogger,

Jane

Chicken Vids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07f75RbvRJY

....WAIT FOR THE PENTAD!!!

do I attract you? do I repulse you with my queasy smile? am I too dirty? am I too flirty? do I like what you like?

Jane's thousands of medicines for her worst ever earache, one of these things actually goes IN the ear. Aaaaaaah!!! Pity me.

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Okay, so last Thursday I started getting a cold and all weekend I was sick and then Monday I couldn't hear out of my left ear and then it kept getting worse and it was really bad and with Morocco tomorrow the Jurie-Joly's insisted on me going to see a doctor. Who prescribed me with a nasty ear infection and sent me to get antibiotics. I arrive at the pharmasicts who looks it all over and then hands me a bunch of boxs and gestures to one saying, wow it must be really bad, I rarely have to prescribe this, so I am a little depressed. Although, on the bright side I am now not the only one not taking thousands of pills at each meal (I live in a family where the mum is huge on homeopathy!!) and so now I am part of a team!!! YAH!!!!!

Anyway, I now feel quite fine and excited that I am done school early tomorrow and then I am going to Morocco!!! YES!!!! My mood is pretty good too, it's been in swing since Friday night and I go from happy to sad to angry to excited to nervous to scared all in a 20 second space, so it's a bit weird. But, I am pretty happy to head off to Morocco so that should be nice. Also, once I come home it's mums package (mmmm reeses pb cups and pieces and trashy magazines in english!!!) and two weeks of school and a soccer game and then home!!!! WOW, time sure flies. FIVE WEEKS TODAY!!!

A little note on school....I've really been stressing about Canadian math and today I found out that Kayla, the Canadian in my class, has already finished grade ten and grade eleven math, found them both easy and tutors in Canada and has offered to help me with a lot of my math when I get back from Morocco. So between Kayla and my dad who will help me the weekend I get back, I am feeling back on track!!! YAAAAAY, now if I could only avoid reading the bible....do not ask!!!!

So not really very much to say, just a little update before I head off to Morocco and am out of the loop for two and a half weeks. Much love to everyone!!!!! <3>

GORDES PICS ARE UP FOLKS!!! Last Monday I went to see Gordes, a cute little celebrity hotspot and gorgeous typical Provencal village (STUNNING!!!) and here are my scenery pics!!!

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1871&l=284d1&id=504021617

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LYRICS GAME AGAIN ANYONE?

You might have to google it if the band is

not nearly as popular in Canada as it is in France.

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Painting the Pool Pics

So here is your second last (little towns tomorrow guys) pics update before May when I return with all my Morocco pics!!! Love you tons.
Te quiero Mucho, mille grazie Ingrid MY LOVE <3

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1792&l=0a523&id=504021617

Quiz & Pictures

Okay, so I copied Emma because I am running out of ideas and here is my quiz:

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070407024352-234588&

HERE ARE ALL THE PHOTOS:

Visiting the village pictures
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1564&l=4e2e5&id=504021617

Train Station Pictures
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1651&l=a5538&id=504021617

Scouts de France Pictures
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1652&l=91e52&id=504021617

Random School Pictures
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1654&l=e5ff8&id=504021617

Random Pictures
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1655&l=5d5c3&id=504021617

School Music Performance Pictures
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1656&l=bce21&id=504021617

Visit With Friends In Le Thor Pictures
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1667&l=2fce6&id=504021617

Lunchtime At School Pictures
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1712&l=fea82&id=504021617

Remember if the link doesn't work then copy and paste into your browser!

So, today is say something nice about someone with whom you might not actually like as much as you thought you did. Do you follow? This, is my made up day because today I figured out where Aurore is worth her weight in gold and how exactly to............"play" her? Lol, here we go.
Today I spent a wonderful day exploring Avignon (by shopping down all the side routes) with Danica, Kayla, Ceilidh and Liora, our newest recruit in grade nine at the nearby collège who is having an absolute shit exchange and had never before eaten a crèpe (until I made her!!). I bought a nice bag, a present for Ingrid, a pair of jeans (skinny jeans, god I can't believe I caved to that trend, but they were so niceeeeeee and they go perfectly with the flats I bought a month ago!!) and something else which escapes me at just this moment.... I was feeling all high (I had fun on the train coming home alone, very nice long French countryside ride) and mighty - NOTHING CAN TOUCH ME NOW - and I get home and everyone bombards me and wants to know exactly what I bought -Jane is a sucker for attention- and so of course I told them. Now, for those of you who don't know, I really saw France as a time to change (appearance, attitude) to be the person I want to be (confused yet?) and a three month away where people don't see you daily is much easier than going in Monday morning a new girl. So, where most people would criticize me for the skinny jeans and say it wasn't "me" and that it wasn't a good purchase, what was becoming of the Jane they knew, etc. etc. Aurore proved how she is amazing. Without saying, Jane you don't usually wear that, she said, very nicely. Jane it looks good. And then she approved all of my purchaces and was a cheery, wonderful Aurore all evening.
It seems that to get the best out of Aurore you must chose the ideal moments to approach and never never force, it seems that I am learning and life is picking up. Now, I had a lot of fun at soccer, I am getting better better better and I am happppppppppppy!!!!
<333 JANE

I don't wanna be anything other than what I've been trying to be baby

Knock yourselves out for the lyrics. You might have to google them, but for those who know Gavin DeGraw, I guess your search will be a little easier!!!
So, today was amazing, a wonderful cheery day, honestly going to school in France and being with my French friends is like candy!!!!! I hung out with Flo (Florian), Charlotte, Jeremie, Jeremie, Dannica, Kayla, Ceildih, Jamie and a bunch of guys that we played basketball with (today again!!). And sadly all the cute and/or hot guys have girlfriends. Tragedy!!! Well, anyway, I had fun eating and hanging out with them and just going crazy and enjoying a relatively easy cheery day. I am clinging to it even after Aurore's annoying "getting mad a jane rant" today. So, I am happy, I am making more friends of my own, hanging out with peopel in my class and being involved and it's really getting me out of any potential dark places which is nice. Now you must excuse me because I have an incredibly boring (but I really should be interested) book called No Logo by Naomi Klein that I have to finish for media class which is insanely long and crappy and filled with big words that ma tete francaise is having trouble dealing with!! So, I will go now and read my stupid book and do my troublesome math homework before I eat dinner and then I'll read after dinner until they all go to sleep and then put up my photo albums (some) and then watch an episode or two of "One Tree Hill" to get me into a nice relaxed place to give me a good sleep, I START A NINE TOMORROW!!! Hip hip hoorray for reasonable hours!! Also, Dannica said she would hang out with me tomorrow so tomorrow (a light course day) should be wonderfulllllllllll.

love you all♥♥

wow, three blogs in less than 24h, havent done that in awhile!!!

So, I really am an emotional roller coaster considering I am feeling extremely happy and cheery only hours after crying and feeling sick. The advil, oh thank god for that, kicked in recently and I finished my math and history which was very uplifting and then I listened to music, watched Prison Break with Aurore and thought about the week ahead of me, starting tomorrow, which made me incredibly cheerful!!! Now, I am in a brilliant mood (I honestly don't know how they come and go as they do) and looking forward to dinner, some more homework and then once everyone goes to sleep, watching some English Prison Break on my own for an hour before crawling into my own bed. Being in my newly cheery mood today allowed me to jump up and down and almost scream, holy crap it's APRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, which...it really is!!!
Back to crappy mood...Aurore caught me crying on msn with mum earlier today and told her mother (which put into perspective for her my generally disinterested, quiet, agreeable moodt his morning) and caused her to give me a big hug and say it's hard and then have a long talk with me which started with me missing my family, went on to Morocco and then transgressed to how quickly this whole exchange is going to go once I start school this week (this weekend was my last "nothing" weekend) and then made it's way (honestly don't know how) to how Canadian schools tend to be more hardworking than French schools and how the French system is said to be better but really is worse and then how maybe the new President will change that but Sylvie really doubts it. All in all the last couple of hours have been immensely cheering and next week is busy. For example:
I have school Monday to Friday but Thursday I am going to the market to buy a lovely table cloth for my mother and peut-etre Anne, si elle est envie, and then Saturday we're painting the base coat for the pool (yes we're painting the pool), I have a soccer game, we're visiting Gordes and another small town and in the evening Sarah (big sis from Paris) arrives for Easter. Sunday we get to paint designs and pictures all over the pool and we are doing the whole "hide eggs" thing and celebrating Easter and I think maybe going to Nice, but I'm not sure. Also, we shall be going to the market Sunday morning. (I think) Then on Monday we have it off but I am not sure what we're doing but if it's nothing (although I doubt that) I shall probably dive into another chunk of school work to keep getting that done with. Then Tuesday to Friday we have school and Friday night we drive overnight to Morocco and spend the next two weeks there (it's such an elaborate trip, it takes us all over, through the desert and to every freaking corner of Morocco, very cool) and return on May 1st, which of course will make me scream with delight because...duh, it's May and it is the return month. So quite honestly, I feel like the "home stretch" starts tomorrow because of all the reasons above and although I know that it will still be hard with boring bits and fights with Aurore and Morocco can be really hard, it'll be easier because 1. Morocco is a new country and that will be lots of fun and 2. It's the home stretch, just knowing that is enough to keep me going.

So, much love to you all from a cheerier, happier Jane.
I promise that pictures and videos will be put up over the course of this week, I mean, I really do have to do it before I go to Morocco and become bombarded with more pictures and videos right??? Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee <3

my old friend the blues =(

Today is shit, excuse me, today is crap.
I am crying, Aurore is being grumpy and obnoxious to boot, I feel sick and cold and I need to do some Canadian homework but I can't seem to make myself do the work. I need to be on Monday. I need to be at school, working, speaking, interacting. I need to be at Thursday so I can say I am at the halfway point and it's all uphill from there. I can't breath, I can't eat, I can't work. I think it's just fatigue, but I am feeling the strain of Canadina homework, other peoples relationships and the extra kilos that come with France. I can't walk because I live beside a highway type road and just sitting still and listening to my iPod doesn't do it anymore. I cannot even see the silver lining today, it's April Fools Day, it's the last full month, it's almost halfway and it's only 20 school days more and all I see is me crying and being tired and sick and wanting to dissolve into a comfortable bed, with a comfortable pillow, with a loud, blowing fan and some new, comforting music. I will do this and I will make it through this and tomorrow will be good and I will be happy and I will feel better, but right now, just now, I am revisiting how I felt when I first arrived, a feeling I thought I wouldn't have to revisit until my next voyage away from home and I guess it just goes to show that no matter what, it can always come back and you shouldn't write it off. So, I shall blog and post pictures and be cheery and happy and not depressing tomorrow when I can muster the strength. Now I am going to go lie in my bed and think about cheerful things and Canada and what there is to look forward to.
My love and happy April Fool's Day,
Sick*Jane