August 24, 2013

Sunset in Tetouan


After beautiful Chefchaouen we headed to Tetouan, also known as the white city. We arrived just in time to catch the beautiful sunset from the roof of our hotel and take some obligatory sunset pictures! I also wanted to share some photos from our hiking trip to a waterfall the day before, where we could enjoy our (almost) private 'pool' - pure heaven!


August 20, 2013

What the future brings

Instagram diary from the last couple of weeks - I'm becoming a pro in the #fromwhereistand work outfit pictures!

So sorry for the lack of posts the past week, I've been dealing with some personal stuff that has been taking up all my free time! As you might know, I was going to be studying in Cairo, Egypt for the next five months. Unfortunately due to the recent events in Egypt going there is no longer an option. Our university does little to nothing to help us find an alternative - they suggest leaving for Egypt in October instead of September or going in the 2nd semester (both not really safe options!) - and finishing my masters degree here in Leuven really isn't an attractive option: we learn very little Arabic, as we have to translate loads of incredibly difficult texts and have to learn 5000 new words every semester but we actually speak very little Arabic in class and don't really learn how to use it in daily life - that's why we would go to the Middle East! - so I don't see the point of doing my masters degree here when I don't learn anything new or useful and would just spend another year studying my ass off for a something my heart isn't really in anymore.

So. I've been looking for other options for a few weeks now (unlike the International department of our university who was still assuming we were going to Cairo two weeks ago, despite the situation going from alarming to worse every day, and who wasn't even looking for alternatives because "it's not worth it". Damn I could write a novel about how our university organises things here. Anyway.) and the best thing I've found is an Arabic Language Institute in Amman, Jordan where we would attend Advanced Arabic & dialect classes. So unless our university comes up with an incredible offer to let us study somewhere in the Middle-East, I will most likely be studying in Jordan in two weeks! Hash tag very excited.



If all goes well (applying, writing an essay, getting recommendation letters etc.) and I get accepted, I could be leaving Belgium for more than 6 months to live and study in the Middle East! This surely will be one of the biggest adventures in my life (so far, at least) and a big change for the blog as well! I'll definitely let you know when everything is final, but in the meantime things are really excited and a bit stressful around here, so bare with me for a few more days/weeks.

Talk to you soon!


August 12, 2013

Falling off


These might just be my new favourite pants, if they wouldn't just fall off my ass every 5 minutes! I was stupid enough to buy them in a UK size 10 (I'm normally a size 8) in order to wear them a bit oversized and baggy, and they didn't fall off when I tried them on in the fitting rooms (must be because I bought these two days after I'd finished my exams - the post-exam food overload was still leaving its traces - but I wore these to work last week and I had to pull them up all the time (such an attractive sight...) I didn't wear these heels to work (sports store, remember) but as I said before, I really miss wearing heels throughout the week, as well as shorts & skirts. If anyone knows of the existence of 'sporty' skirts, let me know!


August 9, 2013

Chefchaouen

After two days in Al-Hoceima we took the bus (never again...) and after a 6-hour drive through the mountains (never, EVER again) we arrived in Chefchaouen. We actually had booked a bed & breakfast here because I'd seen a lovely one on the internet (we normally just look for a place to stay upon arrival, with our travel guides marked at the 'budget accomodations page'), but it was fully booked because someone got sick (maybe they also took the bus?) so the hotel guy offered us a room in a different riad-hotel which was actually much nicer! We met two lovely British girls in our hotel, with whom we went to explore the nearby waterfalls the next day (more on that later). We wish we could have stayed longer in Chefchaouen, the beautiful blue city with its amazing relaxed atmosphere, but we were on a tight schedule! (Haha) Read on for some pictures of the lovely medina of Chefchaouen!


August 6, 2013

Day off


You have no idea how good it felt to wear shorts (and heels! I know...) after three days of long trousers and jeans, because that's the dress code at my holiday job (I work in a sports store). I'm already sweating before I've even entered the store as public transport in summer equals pure hell. I already wore these shorts and shirt together in Morocco but with different shoes, so it qualifies as a different outfit OK. Staying creative in your fashion choices is so hard in summer. Hey, I'm allowed to complain as I wasn't one of those people who wished for 30 degrees in the beginning of July. I'm already satisfied with 20 degrees and just a bit of sunshine!
PS: Excuse my tired face - I still have to get used to the work rhythm, haha. 
Also, the lighting is different in every picture due to the sun disappearing & reappearing all the time, sorry!



August 4, 2013

Melilla & Al-Hoceima


Whoops, sudden blog hiatus? I've been busy with my new holiday job every day this week so no time for blogging... Oh well, I've spoilt you while I was on holiday by preparing posts for every two days, didn't I? I'll start right away with my Morocco holiday recap, which I'll try to limit to 4 posts, haha. Well, we landed in Nador - literally nothing to see there - to head straight to Melilla, one of the two Spanish enclaves in northern Morocco. I felt immediately like I was back in Barcelona: plazas, tapas and even a Zara! We stayed in Melilla for two nights before heading back to Al-Hoceima Morocco, a beach town that could've been really pretty if it wasn't for the giant hotel that was built right on the beach, completely ruining the view. Luckily we found a more remote beach a few kilometers away (including a 25cents bus ride... gotta love Morocco), where we stayed for the entire afternoon just relaxing, swimming, sleeping and eating grilled fish. Hope you enjoy the pictures!