Archives for November 2014

November 13, 2014

Saving My Sanity in Italy: Florence

An exercise in relaxation.

The second day of my “Farewell to *Student’s Name*” tour I hopped on a train and zipped over to Florence.

Despite being a classic travel destination, I didn’t have much on my itinerary. Ok, I didn’t really have anything in mind other than finding my hostel and figuring it all out later. Depending on your perspective, this was either a great plan or a terrible one. I could have planned out my every move and whipped around the city trying to hit all the museums. Instead, I wandered around the streets and sympathized with all the tourists standing in line. Seriously. The lines. Every museum or attraction had a line out the door and around the block. In some places the line for people with scheduled advanced tickets was even longer than the regular walk up line. At that point, I felt pretty good about my decision to not plan and thus not stand in line. Most of those people didn’t look very happy.

So, no, I did not see David. I did not visit the Uffizi Gallery. I didn’t even go inside the Duomo at Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral.

Replica David

However, I did stroll down the streets and over bridges. I sat on fountains and drank cool lemon drinks. I walked up to Piazzale Michelangelo and enjoyed looking out over the city. I ate fresh sandwiches and crazy expensive gelato. Perhaps most importantly, I relaxed. After all, relaxation was what the “Farewell to *Student’s Name*” tour was all about.

xo, jill

posted by Jill 4 Comments
Filed Under: Italy

November 12, 2014

Saving My Sanity in Italy: Pisa

The healing power of travel.

As much as I loved my time in Morocco, there was one big challenge that nearly sullied my experience. I suppose every teacher eventually comes across their nemesis. I met mine in Marrakech. If you know me personally, you’ve already heard the stories. In the interest of painting a picture for those who don’t already know but still remaining professional, I’ll just toss out a few snippets: pushing over a teacher (not me), standing/jumping on desks, drawing blood from classmates, and peeing on a classmate’s personal property. So… yeah. It was a rough year in the teaching department. Finally, in the spring when it became apparent that the school was not willing to make any real changes that would improve the situation, I decided to do the only thing I could think of to maintain my mental health. I booked a trip to Italy.

I dubbed the trip my “Farewell to *Student’s Name*” tour and tried to focus on my big reward during every stressful interaction, meeting, or student meltdown. It really helped. I felt like if no one (my amazing colleagues aside) was going to recognize my Oscar worthy performance with this kid, I might as well congratulate myself.

A few days after school let out, I hopped a flight to Pisa. I arrived in late afternoon and walked over to the tower from my hostel. If you are in town just to check out the tower, Hostel Pisa Tower is a great location at a nice price point. I approached the tower at golden hour, the perfect time to see it aglow. The leaning tower is such an iconic landmark that half of the fun is watching other visitors pose for and snap their photos. Everyone is smiling and feeling silly.

Pisa, Italy

After getting my fill of the tower, I walked down through town to the train station to book a morning train to Florence. Unfortunately, I also used a sketchy ATM that skimmed my card number*. Super not fun to find out your debit card is being canceled while you’re (alone) overseas.

And thus begins the “Farewell to *Student’s Name*” tour.

xo, jill

*At least I think this is where it happened. It also could have been at the train station kiosk buying tickets there.

posted by Jill 2 Comments
Filed Under: Italy

November 6, 2014

Around the Neighborhood

Life in Gueliz.

I know that Gueliz is not the most exciting neighborhood in Marrakech, but last year it was where Mike and I called home. Despite having a few parents express sympathy that the school housed teachers in Gueliz, I actually grew to like the place. Gueliz is the modern French built area of the city so it lacks the unique character of the medina. However, I think it still retains it’s own charm.

We were in easy walking distance to two grocery stores, the bank, good restaurants, several cheap cafes, and my yoga class. The train station and fruit/veg market were only a 20 minute walk away (although in opposite directions), and like I’ve said before, Marjorelle Garden was just down the street. Oh, and a good ice cream place was just a block away as well. Walking down the street you were just as likely to see horse drawn carriages and donkey carts as you were to see beat up taxis or brand new Mercedes.

Clearly, I took this picture right after garbage day. Throughout the week garbage piles up and spills over the dumpsters on a regular basis. It smells terrible but keeps the stray cats happy.

For me, I preferred living in the wide streets and open spaces of Gueliz over the cramped and labyrinthine medina. Whenever I felt overwhelmed on medina excursions, returning to Gueliz was a relief. (I know that there are amazingly peaceful riads within the medina, but let’s be honest, those places are not realistic choices for private school housing.)

One of our favorite neighborhood places was a cafe called Mike’s Cafe. Ok, just kidding. It’s Frescobaldi but Mike was there so often that it earned a little nickname amongst our friends. The food is nice, though not amazing, but the real appeal is in the laid back atmosphere, people watching, and familiar waiters. (When one of the waiters got a new job, he made sure to say goodbye to Mike. So sweet.) We often spent long weekend breakfasts there sipping mint tea and grazing on olives and French bread.

Our last Frescobaldi breakfast.

It’s funny how a place can start out feeling so foreign and different and then transform into a home, especially in the course of one year.

xo, jill

posted by Jill 1 Comment
Filed Under: Morocco

November 4, 2014

Ouarzazate’s Taourirt Kasbah

Beyond the studios.

Having spent our first afternoon exploring Atlas Studios, Mike and I split the rest of our time in Ouarzazate at the pool and exploring the Taourirt Kasbah. (There is a UNESCO ksar, Ait Benhaddou, just outside of Ouarzazate, but this is not it. We weren’t organized enough to get ourselves out there.)

The Taourirt Kasbah dominates one end of town and is equally impressive inside and out. Of course, that’s just my opinion. Several people on TripAdvisor were disappointed that the rooms are unfurnished. Honestly, that’s very typical. I was once told by a guide that in the Muslim tradition, furniture and belongings of previous rulers/families are removed and destroyed. That’s why most fortresses open to the public are unfurnished. I tried doing a little research to verify that claim, but couldn’t find anything. Thinking over all of the fortresses I’ve visited in UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, and Morocco, only a couple had items in the rooms (Sheik Zayed’s former home in Al, Ain, for example.) I’m curious if anyone else has found this to be true.

The kasbah is indeed a labyrinth inside and you won’t learn much without a guide. We weren’t in much of a guide mood that day, so we opted to wander the rooms on our own. Here’s a taste of what the kasbah is like, courtesy of a tourism company:

“The Kasbahs inside Taourirt are best described as a cobweb village of sun-kissed buildings elaborated with multi-level towers and turrets rising out of closely packed ksours (one family Kasbahs), ramparts with geometrical drawings and a series of alleys and gateways.

Inside the Kasbahs themselves, you will be exposed to a myriad of mysterious stairwells leading into a series of uniquely shaped and sized rooms lit up by low windows. The larger rooms have plaster work decoration featuring floral patterns and are contrasted against white walls.”