Month: April 2009

Just a Reminder (on Torture)

This is old news, but unfortunately is still relevant:

“There should be little doubt from American history that we consider [waterboarding] as torture, otherwise we wouldn’t have tried and convicted Japanese for doing that same thing to Americans. I would also hope that he would not want to be associated with a technique which was invented in the Spanish Inquisition, was used by Pol Pot in one of the great eras of genocide in history and is being used on Burmese monks as we speak. America is a better nation than that.” -Senator John McCain

Even older is McCain’s Newsweek editorial from 2005, which is truly worth the few minutes it takes to read. He very accurately puts the whole issue in a nutshell:

I don’t mourn the loss of any terrorist’s life. Nor do I care if in the course of serving their ignoble cause they suffer great harm. They have pledged their lives to the intentional destruction of innocent lives, and they have earned their terrible punishment in this life and the next. What I do mourn is what we lose when by official policy or official neglect we allow, confuse or encourage our soldiers to forget that best sense of ourselves, that which is our greatest strength–that we are different and better than our enemies, that we fight for an idea, not a tribe, not a land, not a king, not a twisted interpretation of an ancient religion, but for an idea that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights.

Now, in this war, our liberal notions are put to the test. Americans of good will, all patriots, argue about what is appropriate and necessary to combat this unconventional enemy. Those of us who feel that in this war, as in past wars, Americans should not compromise our values must answer those Americans who believe that a less rigorous application of those values is regrettably necessary to prevail over a uniquely abhorrent and dangerous enemy.

It’s just too bad that these words have now gone unheeded for years. Time is running out – statutes of limitations will go into effect next year for some of the crimes committed – we must act soon to assert that which sets us apart from our enemies.

My Adventure in Morocco, Part 1: Fez

I have posted photos of my Morocco trip on my Picasa Web Album – check ’em out!

What an adventure! I’ve crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and set foot upon Moroccan soil. I’ve been plunged into a land of Arabs and Berbers – a country under the power of a monarchy, to boot. I’ve passed through huge marketplaces which have barely changed since mideval ages, and a sprawling modern supermarket like Wal-Mart From Another World. I have ridden Land Rovers and camels across the Sahara, camped in traditional tents, relaxed, drummed and danced with chill desert dwellers.

I’ve walked the dunes and meditated in solitude. (Or was it in communion with all creation?) I’ve explored the desert guided by the light of the full moon. And I’ve had the most amazing group of fun, loving, fun-loving people to share and enjoy the experience with.

I went to Morocco with about 50 students from International Studies Abroad, many coming from other programs in Madrid, Salamanca, Málaga and Santender. Our bus left Granada at 3:30 Sunday morning, a day before Spain’s holy week festivities were to begin. We crossed the Strait of Gibraltar at sunrise and crossed the border at Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city on the African coast. The border was reminiscent of the Mexico-U.S. border, complete with incessant honking choruses and vans packed full of seemingly useless junk (even though you know a use has been found for all of it).

Upon crossing the border – and scoring one more stamp on my passport- dozens of cameras whipped out and were aimed out the bus windows. North Morocco was nothing like what I had expected – extremely green, like Colorado during April showers. We had lunch at a rest stop, where I had my first experience as a traveler with zero knowledge of the popular languages Arabic, French, and Berber, in that order. While essential travel communication is definitely possible, all of my travel up until this point has been in countries where English or Spanish are widely spoken. Being thrown into a completely different, somewhat non-Western culture is enough of a change of gears as it is, but add total lack of language skills to the mix and you have a pretty intimidating situation on your hands!

We finally arrived to our five-star hotel in the outskirts of Fez, where the king’s palace is located and a huge, ancient Medina contains mideval marketplaces and old stuff abound. Our hotel itself was a different story- European amenities, kind of a retreat from all the new things we explored in the city by day. The next morning, we went to the medina and toured several larger shops, where shopkeepers gave presentations of their goods to the whole group, and many of us would later bargain – “regatear” in Spanish – with multilingual salesmen. The medina really was a blast from the past; narrow walkways with people and load-carrying donkeys, with no motor vehicles to be found. Open-air shops selling fresh veggies and meat from the countryside. Several of us walked past a butcher right as he removed a dead goat’s head and extracted its brain!

Here are a few videos I recorded in Fez:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJpOeIRFlqs&w=480&h=385]

Street Performers in Fez

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNaxhvZaeiw&w=480&h=385]

Fez Sculptor

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hIRSsT5Hi4&w=480&h=385]

Fez Percussionists

…and don’t forget to check out the photos!

First day in Morocco

Today we spent 15 hours traveling by bus and ferry from Granada to Fez in Morocco. I found some free Wi-Fi in the lobby of our five-star hotel here, with which I am pecking out this quick update on my iPhone. Our hotel is beautiful, with the lobbies and cafeterias replicating the same styles I have already seen at the Alhambra.
While today’s post-travel itinerary is dominated by food (which is so far excellent and reminiscent of many dishes my mother has made) and sleep, we did find some time to go to a nearby supermarket in town. Simply put, this store was the Moroccan version of a Super Wal-Mart. For a crowd of Americans who speak no Arabic and a couple of words in French, it created much more culture shock than anything from Spain. (To be fair, I am certain that a non-Westerner would be equally, if not more so, bewildered upon entering a Wal-Mart for the first time.)
Tomorrow, we will be visiting the old city center of Fez, which happens to be the world’s largest pedestrian-only commercial center. After that, we will head to southern Morocco for two days and nights in the desert- 4×4’s, Camels, and sleeping in large tents. Finally, we’ll go to the smaller city of Meknés to rest up before the long trip back to Granada.
I don’t expect I’ll be able to post much more while in Morocco – perhaps once more tomorrow night. But I am taking tons of photos, and I look forward to sharing the rest soon!

Kicking Travel Into High Gear

Tonight I head out for six days in Morocco! While I haven’t done a ton of homework on the country before heading out, I know I’m in for a lot of firsts:

  • First time in Africa
  • First time in a (currently) Arab nation
  • First time in a country whose primary and secondary languages are completely foreign to me (oof)
  • CAMELS!

I’m going with a large group from my study abroad program – everything is pre-organized and we’ll be herded around for most of the trip, unlike our Spanish excursions. I see this as a good thing for my first trip. I’m really looking forward to Moroccan food as well.

This week was my midterms week, and I have 9 weeks left here in Europe. In those 9 weeks, I plan to be hitting:

  • Morocco
  • The Alpujarras (once or twice more)
  • Amsterdam (with 8-hour layover in Liverpool, England)
  • Prague
  • Valencia
  • Barcelona (perhaps a night in Ibiza?)
  • Madrid

I only have three unplanned weekends left, and I’m already tempted to book one more trip – London? Bruges? Brussels? All I know is that from here out, time is going to zoom by.

BIG news – I’m staying in Spain!

UPDATE: This it total April Fools’ Day BS. And I am a tool for doing so.

Oh man. I don’t know where to start…

I GET TO LIVE HERE IN SPAIN.

I just got a job with Internetiza Solutions – a Web 2.0 firm based in Madrid. It turns out they’re looking for some VB .NET developers, and since that’s my favorite language and platform to develop with, it was a fit!

Internetiza is more concerned with skills than academic credentials, so after my semester in Granada ends, I’ll move up to Madrid and work from there. They’re going to help with relocation, visas, all of that – it should all go really smoothly.

I know that this will take some of you by surprise, since I haven’t mentioned this to anybody as of yet. The truth is that I have been considering this over the last week. It’s a very serious one – moving so far from almost everyone I know isn’t something I take lightly. When I got the offer, I decided I needed to kind of mantain radio silence about it so I could really mull it over on my own without any outside influences.

Part of my decision was based on my love of Spain – I’ve really fit in well here, and I seem to be more compatible with the Spanish mindset than I am with the stuff I’m used to back home. Also, with the economy the way it is right now, I feel it’s probably the best idea to live somewhere with a socialist government in place.

I can’t wait to get working with Internetiza- I can’t say what, but they’re working on something really big and exciting. They’ll be keeping me pretty busy; I probably won’t be able to make it back to the States to visit and get the rest of my things until Thanksgiving or so.

I’ll fill you all in on more details later – there’s so much to talk about! I just wanted to let everyone know now that I’ve made my decision.