4. Travel to Africa

Well this happened much sooner than I expected and in a different way than I expected. A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Morocco, indeed, to the continent of Africa! When I was about 14 my dad promised me a trip to Africa, specifically Botswana was the country that seemed most feasible at the time. I have been dreaming about an exotic African safari ever since! I have wanted to see the animals, the nature, eat the food (Ethiopian is in my top three favorite cuisines), and experience a totally different culture. As we were planning our trip this summer it only hit me half way through the planning process that I was going to Africa!!! It perhaps wasn't the Africa I had envisioned when I was writing this list but indeed, I was going! Morocco gave me my cultural fix as well as some delicious food; however, I cannot say I got my flora and fauna fix unless you count palm trees and camels (which in all fairness, were just as cool).
Morocco was amazing. I am so glad that we went and did so many unusual things; however, I am not here to write a travel blog, I am here to write about how these things effected me and helped me to grow.
When I was 18 I left my small hometown and flew to El Salvador, alone, with my whole life on my back. Back then I knew I was ready for anything and I had no fear. Looking back I am quite proud of myself even though I didn't have a second thought about it then. I had so many things that I was learning so rapidly about a new culture, myself, Spanish, and how much beer I could actually drink. It was a form of culture shock that I didn't realize was happening because I just knew I had to keep pushing through. I think I have been craving that feeling that is part fear, part excitement, and part pure joy that comes from discovering a new place that is outside of your comfort zone. Morocco took me there.
I am 24 now and since that trip when I was 18 I have either traveled in Latin America where I am now comfortable and understand the way things work as well as the language or I have traveled in Europe or Canada/USA where the way things work are very similar, almost everyone speaks English, and if needed, I had access to a cellphone with data on it. In Morocco I was at last in a place where around every corner I had a new question (I must admit, we did have cellphone data and could look up the answers to these questions quite easily). Haggling in the souks (markets), eating new food (flavorful tagine and the crispiest falafel I have every had), having to dress a certain way (very modestly to appease the Muslim culture), and hearing the prayers from the mosques ring out over the whole country every few hours. So many things made me stop and think wow, what a different world, what an experience. The best part about travelling to places that are so different from home is that everything is difficult which makes the rewards so much more gratifying.

I must admit, the palm trees against the pink buildings in Marrakesh gave me my flora fix

A rug market in the coastal town of Essaouira 

One of the mosques that called out prayers five times a day over some sort of loud speaker system

Riding camels for my fauna fix, quite the experience!