Yesterday was my birthday and the first I've spent abroad (if you don't count Hawaii as being "abroad" but sometimes I do). It was pretty mellow and while I traditionally haven't thought much of my birthday in the past, it seems the older I get the more fun I have with excuses to do certain things. I think teenage Lauren was "too cool for birthdays" and was maybe a bit extremist in fighting The Man in all things which includes stupid obligations as excuses to buy into the system. Nowadays, I see it as an excuse to splurge on myself (even though, let's be honest, I splurge on myself all the time because screw you, that's why).

I originally wanted to wake up early and GO, but two things made reality happen in that area: one, we got home at 2am the night before and I didn't sleep until 3am because I NEEDED a shower no matter how exhausted. Two, what in Allah's name even opens before 10am in Egypt (or Nothern Africa in general)? Pretty much nothing. So I got up around 830 afraid it was like 1130 and mused around until Jake got up around 930ish (he always goes to bed much later than I). We made plans to see the library but seeing as we're [always] on a pastry kick, we decided to look for a bakery. Luckily, our couch surfing host Paulina had several Egypt guides and the Rough Guide (being sick of Lonely Planet) had a few to name. We chose Delecies and we're pleased with our decision by the large selection of croissants, danishes, and endless varieties of cakes. 

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened at 11am but I think we got there around 1200 or 1230 and bought a combo ticket that allowed us to get into two museums on top of the library all for about $7 each. Not bad if I say so myself and a worthwhile splurge to spend my personal holiday even though I grossly don't have the funds for most of this trip (ce la vie Serengeti National Park). 

We weren't supposed to have bags in the library but both Jake and I had all our camera stuff in messenger bags. We were told we'd need to deposit our bags by the ticket booth for holding like everyone else, but like snotty white people, we scoffed. The signs nearby explicitly said "We recommend not leaving valuables in your bags that you check" so like hell we were doing that. Instead we asked to see one of the museums downstairs first and I think we were just hoping to sneak into the library later. However, the end of one of the museums led us back out to the original entrance outside and we decided to go American about it. We found someone more "official" looking and after showing him ALL that was in our bags were camera gear, the conversation went from "This is… not possible" to "Okay, not a problem" (imagine in deep Egyptian accent for full experience) and we were let in with our bags and saw the man tell all the security guys we were free to bring our shit. Yeah, sometimes you just gotta be American. Rules don't apply to us.

Finally, with only cheese danishes and ridiculous looking coffee in our bellies from the A.M., it was nearing 5pm and we were hungry. Where else to go when you're broke than Gad where the locals eat and partake in sandwiches that cost roughly 18 cents? Yeah that's right. They're small, but two is plenty filling, so when we spend less than $1 (5 Egyptian Pounds) for four sandwiches, we're not complaining at all. I got two filled with falafel and veggies (called Taamiya) and Jake got one Taamiya and one Foul (pronounced "fuul") which is just refried fava beans mixed with some creamy sauce stuff and both kinds are ridiculously tasty.

We brought them back to Paulina's flat to eat while we rest from our day and gather energy to go back out that night for someone else's birthday party (I love other Augustines!). Finally around 21:00-ish we go out to find birthday candles without luck and decide to forego the candles and head to the party. There were two parties that night, one for the birthday girl which was more family oriented. And then as someone at the party said "The bad guys came in so the good guys went out" and a more alcoholic party started thereafter. 

I had fun taking pictures with the exceptional view from the flat and wanted to take high ISO people shots last night anyway, I came out feeling successful.

Then others were interested in my camera, so it got passed around a bit:

And Jake had his way with my camera too (what a surprise). He should also post a video with clips I did on my cam and he did on his G11 of the guys singing. It was a pretty priceless night:

With good company and gorging myself on blue cheese, lasagna, and far too many pastries, cookies, sweets, and cakes, I deem this a very good birthday all in all.

So much for keeping to my schedule. Unsurprisingly, our availability of internet is inconsistent. Also when we do have it, we don't like to spend a ton of time indoors on a computer unless we have to (Jake has work to do) and I don't like stealing his computer to blog (my tablet doesn't do weebly unfortunately). 

Well this blog probably should be about Tunisia and its summary since we are now in Cairo Egypt! However, I may make that the next post because I feel so overwhelmed with how amazing Egypt is in just the few hours we've experienced it, I have to write about it instead!

I had been pretty stressed out about coming here. I had no idea what to expect and kept hearing different things from everybody. Few tourists having a good time but suspiciously not even mentioning any political problems. And then Morocco and Tunisia locals being VERY concerned for us being there. I was a bit of a mess. But once we landed, all the weight lifted off my shoulders. Things didn't seem tense in the airport. People weren't looking at us weird. Everything felt normal.

Then we ran into some Americans in front of us in line to get our passports stamped and we asked them where to get our visas before entry. After chatting a bit and realizing where we had some commonalities, we felt even more at ease and I was especially looking forward to meeting people and see the area. After baggage claim, we exchanged some phone numbers and got our Egypt SIM card to call locals and our new American friend, Ryan later. We were unable to reach our first couchsurfing host, so we were forced to look for a hostel and decided to turn to our dreadful hit-and-miss Lonely Planet guide. We chose Wake Up! Cairo and proceeded to learn the bus routes. Taxi drivers had been bugging us about every 3 seconds the entire time we were in the airport but I must say, they were much more pleasant to deal with than any Moroccan people. Maybe it's our now-expertise on dealing with haggling people.

With some help from locals here and there, we found the right bus and headed downtown. It was nightfall by the time we were on our way, but the sights of Cairo were not lost on me. 

This place is breathtaking from the first moment you lay eyes on it. Flying over it reminded me a bit of Manhattan and driving through the city on bus was oddly everything I'd imagine Egypt to be. It feels old and new at the same time, like imagining infrastructure and architecture of ancient Egypt but now modern. Difficult to explain, picture what Vegas might interpret Egypt to be as. The buildings are beautiful and reminiscent of European style, yet they are their own type as well. And dirty. Let's not forget we're still in dusty northern Africa. I felt very poetic last night gazing at every streetcorner, fountain, government building, and mass amount of cars that put L.A. and NYC traffic to shame. Today, I've lost my words, but to summarize, I now understand why people have been seeking to come here for hundreds and hundreds of years and why it holds amazement and wonder and curiosity after all this time.

Where I was questioning my every turn in Morocco and even Tunisia, wondering why I wasn't enjoying myself abroad like I felt I should being the self-proclaimed world traveler I am, Egypt in a few minutes on a bus reminded me full force why I this is my biggest passion. Beauty emanates from every pore here (even through the midst of a new revolution and grimy environment) and the history behind every corner is palpable. 

My dad requested I speak more of some differences between the great here and the over there. He mentioned more of the weather, but maybe I'll venture off onto some other differences that immediately caught my eye.

First off, it's bloody hot here. And that's all well and good, it's not even as hot as the high desert some days nor as humid as parts of Tennessee. And walking outside can be okay... but for some reason it feels more sweltering than any other place I've been. And I think it's due to the stillness of the air. And this is the first country I've been to that doesn't believe in fans for any of the hostels or houses hardly. Restaurants have AC in places, resorts too (tourist places of course), but for backpackers and locals, you deal with it. And the air inside isn't even HOT but the stillness of air makes you sit in sweat when you're not moving or instigating any such reaction. Sleeping is the same. The room will feel fine, but you'll wake up sweaty and the bed soaked underneath you. Everything just RADIATES for some reason. For the VERY first time in my life, I'm wishing for cold weather. Throughout 120F days in Victorville I didn't complain, but here... I will be glad to be back in the States in December and I will faceplant in snow.

Smells. Morocco and Tunisia both kind of smell like a sewer. And it's because they are poor enough to have few resources dedicated to trash pickup. It's EVERYwhere. Shop keepers are pretty good about sweeping in front of their stalls, but otherwise, there aren't really good places to collect it out of sight, nor out of nose-range...

Shopping. These places depend on haggling. Egypt we hear is worse where you even haggle for hotel rooms. But here, it's mostly just goods and also kept within street shops. There are some grocery stores and shopping centers about with fixed pricing. Not sure why they chose to start implementing them, if it was strictly pressure from the west or people got sick of haggling (I'm sure sick of it, but I would never want that culture to disappear). I know when I'll get back to the U.S., I'll think "Why do I have to pay $5 for this? I'll give you $2, how about that?" and when I'm refused, I'll wish I was back here where I can make shopkeepers fall in love with me and give me whatever price I ask.

Toilets. I wasn't sure I'd bring this up because it seems silly, yet it's a daily occurrence, and one I'm sure we all take for granted. Morocco was good because they had squat toilets and every so often regular western ones. But here in Tunisia, they have western ones or ones that are slightly lower but without a toilet seat which means you can't squat OR sit but uncomfortably hover and it's stupid. Just rip the damn thing out or give me a toilet seat, seriously. And then there's this hose on the side that I'm assuming is their version of a badet? I haven't used it, but I have no idea what else it'd be for because the toilets have flushers unlike squatter ones where the hose might be handy... I don't know. They need to make up their minds about that one though...

Cafes/Restaurants/Etc. Most, if not all, places you just sit and let the waiter notice you rather than go in and ask for a table. We still do it sometimes out of habit and blind courtesy, but we're often looked at weird because we don't just sit. Ordering doesn't really differ, but what does is even in fast food places or cafes where you might order at a counter, you don't pay until way at the end. At restaurants it's common for us to pay when we leave, but they do it at EVERY place here. You're not often bothered and usually need to stand up and begin meandering over to suggest you're ready to pay and leave. It's kind of nice, like people just want to enjoy their shit and not worry about any bill until they absolutely have to. And people often hang out in cafes with one coffee for a very long time which is also due to the poverty (unemployment rate). So waiters and the like don't mind too much when you just sit around forever, and sometimes it could be awkward for us because Jake and I are more Canadian-like than American and hate feeling like we're taking advantage of people's time. We often forget it's the culture here, but we're slowly getting more comfortable just wasting space at a cafe with our one coffee.

Hours of operation. Everyone is very lax here, some might say lazy, but I just think of it as a cultural difference and having that American "work work work!" blood simply gives people a certain judgmental light. No hours are usually posted and people definitely operate at different times than we are used to. People tend to stay up very late, kids included, and I'm not QUITE sure if this was due to Ramadan (I'll be able to compare now that it's ended) but most times people were up until 4am at the earliest. We'd even see groups of 2 or 3 preteens and teenagers out walking by themselves at such hours. And due to that, shops and cafes tend not to open their doors until well past 10am, so it's a soft set of hours. One day it might be 10, the next 11am. But that's the benefit of owning your own shop, really, and there are few "chains" to speak of, if you can even call them that.

So right now we are on the island Djerba, in the town Houmt Souk and for two days we'll go to Midune just 5 miles away. We;ve had an interesting journey here, but for all our lack of planning, it feels like we've come across nothing but luck (and I hope I didn't just jinx myself!). The picture to the right is of the bus/train station in Gabès where we were forced to stay the night before catching a morning bus to the island. However, we were well taken care of and it couldn't have been better under the circumstances. Every other station we've come across until then we would NOT have been able to do that, so why we hoped it would happen here was foolish, but luck had it, and we didn't have a bad time with so many nice people looking after us.

 I am very much in love with the Tunisian people and though I hadn't considered it beforehand, I would not mind coming back here for a very extended stay to do some volunteering in whichever form that needs to take. Something I will look into when I get back for sure and through couchsurfing, I already have someone who lives here who would have many resources and be of great help.

Well that's all I can really think to write on at the moment. But if anyone is curious about a place, let me know. If anyone has specific requests on another aspect of this trip or whatever you can think of I would be appreciative! I miss a lot of people and have become grateful for some places back home, which I didn't imagine happening, so I'm anxiously looking forward to being back and sharing experiences in person. Yet that's still 15ish weeks off, so until then, fill my inbox with love, I can always use it!

I've decided to make a schedule for my blogging. The pros do it that way and while I'm a far cry from a pro blogger, my mind is always going a million miles an hour in a jumbled mess and maybe a schedule will help me be that much closer to being an interesting blog like the pros.

With this scheduling, I can take requests for what people are interested in on this trip. My first request came from my dad in an email asking about what my senses are taking in and to really pen down the differences between here and places in America. It is quite overwhelming and while falling into a routine is easy enough once here, I'm sure all you wunderlusts out there would be more curious as to major differences in weather, cultures, people, architecture, lifestyle, etc. It all gets a bit mouthy, but I'll do my best to paint a picture.

Also, since I've thought of my scheduling (which I would like to do every Tuesday and Friday) I have missed two blogs thus far and the next one is actually supposed to be tomorrow, but as internet comings are inconsistent at best, I thought I'd take advantage of the time I have here at a cafe.

Well maybe I'll break off with a new blog to start it officially...

Also, I seem to remember many more comments on my blogs and journals of the past, was it a mistake to rid my facebook and nobody comes here to read, or are my blogs SO horrible they warrant no response? I'm hurt, but oh well.

Unfortunately, Morocco had to take the blunt of our first experience of North African habits, but with the horrible abrasiveness of Marrakech behind us, we can pretty much handle anything that comes our way (until Egypt's relentlessness comes).

Bring on Tunis, Tunisia. Immediately off the plane, I was less intimidated than when we first entered Casablanca, and thankfully the people here seem much more mellow (or I am looking with new Moroccan-experienced eyes). Jake and I have also gotten a lot better with hagglers and know how to firmly stand our ground rather than feel bad and give in (they're very good at feigning a saddened outrage that you're offering such a low price and the sentimental in me just wants to give them anything they ask knowing my lot in life is probably a lot better on the average). So after figuring out the cheapo busses had stopped running for the evening, we had to bargain a taxi but in the end got exactly the price we meant to pay, which felt like a small victory and I'll take any at this point.

One reason for happiness in small victories was that Jake and I goofed on our way out of Morocco and really had it in our heads we were leaving on August 6th but our "eh, things will work out how they will" attitude prevented us from even checking our travel itinerary once since we made it and we had no idea which airline we were flying. We went to the airport the night before because Chef is a 6+ hr bus-ride and we would not have made it in the morning, so sleeping at the airport was our only option. On our way there Jake checked his saved screenshot of our ticket purchase and lo and behold, our flight was actually August 5th in the morning! We tried to fix the problem at 10pm when we got in the terminal, but we were just waved on to the next person every time we asked what to do and reassured we could just check in like usual the following morning. Morning came and we were not able to check in like we were told and instead had to pay 100 Euros EACH to change our flight. Not a price we were willing to fork over. My weak attempt at tears and frustration did nothing to sway them. So we're stuck hoping our travel insurance covers it, but I'm not hopeful for such luck.

Basically at this point, realizing more of these unwarranted surprises lurk ahead, I am willing to accept a plane ticket back home for mid december from Ethiopia if anyone is willing. I DO have a birthday approaching and I'll gladly take it as a birthday advance for several others if you want to combine it as a "This is your late 20's birthday gift and you'll get no more until you're the big 3-0." and then I'll accept getting my skydiving license paid for on my 30th bday. Sound like a plan friends and family? You can combine efforts...

Enough selling my soul for money... That can come later when I really do run out my last cent and have to whore myself out for a little bread and rice.

Tunisia.

We like it here. We found the cheapest hostel lonely planet described and I'm sure there are others, but we feel safe and happy here, though the hot still air in the common room is enough to make us buy a fan for the next 3 nights we plan on staying here. Holy fucking hell. Lit'rilly. I've learned not to care much though, because if I can't change my predicament, I'm going to be miserable thinking about it and I've coped most of my life in that fashion. So here I sit, sweat pouring off me in buckets even though it's barely 90 degrees and I'm doing NOTHING and wearing the skimpiest dress I've ever adorned. It's alright though, I'm sure the staff appreciates the view, the host has been considerably nicer since....

The streets of the Medina are barren due to Ramadan and that has been a blessing. I wonder if we'd like it as much had we been here before Ramadan started and while the answer is most obviously no, I think having Morocco under our belt allows us to still enjoy our time here much more regardless of the lack of people or not. The people just seem better with haggling (see below for the Saffron we prized) and not so abusive with your time and patience. The few people who have not let us be with a simple word really just talked to us for a few minutes then left on their business. In morocco those few minutes meant leading you to their store. Here, they just seem nice. It's very refreshing. 

Today, we decided to try more deep-fried sugar since they look slightly less gross than Morocco's version, and got a little carried away and ended up getting a small box with an assortment of them. The seller we chose viewed my exposed tattoos and proceeded to lure me inside the shop with a crinkle-cut french fry shaped sugar piece so he could look me all over. We started with my map and pointed to where Tunisia was and then was asked where we're from, then he pointed to all the places he "wished" to go, though without any English spoken, it remains open where that was my body part or the actual place in the world. After being shown off to all the surrounding shops (and embarrassed laughter from me and Jake), he let us go with a few extra sugar pieces as freebies.

Then we came across tubs of Saffron and wondered what their price was in the land of all things cheap. We meant to browse and think on it, but the man there, too, was a precious haggler and after getting the price down less than a third just from saying "no" (because we really didn't have money!) we gave in. I'll let you guess the price we paid, and if you're a saffron lover like myself, humor me with U.S. prices. 

So yeah, first impressions are positive. We're much more relaxed here. People don't bug us nearly as much. We're getting into the swing of Ramadan. And we're a lot better at immersing ourself into middle-east/north-african culture in general. The town isn't so pretty so far, but we're further than walking distance from the beach, so when we get our bearings and our schedule for our time here, we'll make that trip and I can update you on our findings. After my cousin's category medal ceremony in the olympics, we'll be heading south and hopefully to some couch surfing hookups. If not, we're scoping out a peninsula/island to spend the remainder of our time, hopefully reading books on the beach and getting some work done (the work part is mostly Jake, but I guess this blog counts as mine! Plus I get to play with all the best photo-manipulation programs on Jake's computer, fairly addictive).

Au revoir!

As a reminder, Amanda will be competing in the hammer throw which according to my schedule is 10am London time on August 8th (tomorrow!!) so keep an eye out. The medal ceremony takes place August 10th. 
**I didn't get to publish this in time for the above, but I did find her results and stuff online. I also found a Daily Press article with quotes from my grandma Trish in Hesperia. Pretty exciting!**


Also, how is everyone's August shaping up? It's my birthday month, so I'm always fairly fond of this time of year, even though I've never cared much about my birthday, I think it's a pretty cool month. Probably because I like heat so much... Whew got enough of that here that's for sure!

I mentioned Jake and I had fun in Màlaga's airport, but I forgot to show some pictures showing what we were spending most of our time doing...

Finally leaving this blasted place! It feels like we've been here forEVER. But it wasn't bad. Though weird that time has gone by so slow. Usually a month goes by some place and I'm like "NOoooOOOOOOooooo time too fast!" Especially getting older, sheesh. But I think I would easily come back and spend another month here. There are a few key places I could spend a week at a time at that would be great exploration. 

In fact, today we glimpsed the capital, Rabat, for a brief second while heading to Casablanca's airport and we were immediately a little sad we couldn't spend more time gazing at the coast and getting to know the easy locals. Next time for sure. I can't wait to bring Erin here and relish in her enjoyment of this place, I know her heart would sing walking down every path Morocco has to offer. It would have been nice to have her smiling happy energy to feed off when the haggling touts got under my skin.

Our next stop is Tunisia, and with the break I was able to get in Spain in order to catch my breath, I feel excited to take it on. So much has been going on here and back home that I've thought about bailing once or twice to better prepare myself (i.e. Save more money) to try this trip some other time in the near future. But the idea of going back to reality and even more the idea of dealing with Americans again has made me stubborn to see this trip through. I'd love to be where my family needs me, but it looks like they'll need to wait until I photograph a leopard in Zambia before I can be back to help out. I'm still dreading Egyptian touts, though...just nine days, I can get through nine days. I am blood of the dragon. I am blood of the drago...

Màlaga

So our timing as explained in a previous post has been such that we needed a few weeks to kill as to not spend too much time in a small place before heading to South Africa when the good weather hits in September. We looked for the cheapest options and thanks to Ryanair, decided on Barcelona.

We showed up in Tarifa, heading to Málaga's airport (3 hr busride) to catch a late flight to Barc the next day. When we got off the bus in Málaga and walked to our chosen hostel for the one night, we immediately thought to ourselves "Should we have foregone the plane ride and camp here for 8 days instead?" - we instantly fell in love with the place. The hostel was welcoming, full of boisterous people and run by a sweet british guy who upon glance looked like he could be the lead singer for the latest deathcore band but once he opened his mouth, was the jolliest most adorable guy on the planet. Cheerio!

We head out to the town and explored our options on the map, becoming very happy that our flight was not until 10pm and we had all the next day to sightsee. We chose the Picasso Museum as our destination of choice, taking a long way to see other pleasant city sights. After a few hours not talking to eachother as we looked at some ridiculously famous pieces of art, Jake and I seemed to get along better. 

After a good meal and fruit smoothie, we realized how tired we were and thought it best to get to the airport way earlier than planned so we could crash in the terminal before our flight and not worry about anything. We didn't get to sleep afterall, but that's because the Málaga Aeropuerto ended up being the best airport we've ever been too and we spent all our time walking, eating, laughing, and window-shopping!

Barcelona

Highlights only because I could write a novel with how much I love it here:

Food
I am fairly certain the burger joint we randomly found here is the best I've ever had. It's hard to compete with Fuddrucker's Elk Burger, or god-help-me, Jo's burgers in Austin (humina humina) but seriously, this burger. I had a love affair with this burger. Bacon, fried egg, all the veggies you can think, and arugula to top; on an airy delicious bun and made from veal and pork. I even burned my tongue because I refused to wait for it to cool before scarfing it down, scalding until the last bite. I'm not sure what they actually did to make this burger taste so ridiculous, but the tiny hole in the wall was packed to the brim and stayed that way the entire time we were there. The guy who took our order was a sweet guy but with a no nonsense "What you need, I will provide" look on his face. He was there to serve, and to serve the best fucking food you will dream about.


I wish I took more pictures of notable food we had (there was a lot) but below was all I could find on my camera and phone...

Olympics

Got to watch the Olympics opening ceremony at a sports bar across the street from our hostel, simply called Barcelona Sports Bar. Good atomosphere, tons of screens, and pretty standard food and drinks with not outrageous prices. I got to glimpse my cousin Amanda walking with the 'Mericans when they came out. I was really excited, even though it was just the top half of her face for half a second. When various countries were called, nationals from their home country would hoot and hollar and Jake and I began worrying we were the only Americans. But we decided we'd be loud anyway because fuck the haters. When the U.S. Was called, we shouldn't have worried because without fail, we had the largest bar audience with the resounding "U-S-A! U-S-A!" being chanted over and over. 

While our first day here was absolutely picture perfect, our second day we decided on more art, and went to the museum of contemporary art not far from our hostel. Architecturally, the museum was nice, as CA museums tend to be, and I forgot how interactive they usually are as well, so I had fun watching, listening, and lounging in various rooms full of modern Spanish art.

We also got to meet up with a friend we met in Morocco who had been traveling about the same amount of time we had, but he was due back in the U.S. the next day, so we trekked the city together and showed him our favorite Pim Pam burger and some photography tips before parting ways.

Finally got to tan topless too. I haven't done that in a while. I wish Tunisia was not an Islamist country, hard to believe they'll have nude beaches there. I quite like Islam's modesty in people, but it's a pity that their religion is just as abused as Christianity or any other major religion. People adhere to what they feel like and use what they want to condemn who they want, all the while probably being hypocrites too. And though I quite enjoyed Morocco and their take on things (Islam's, that is), it was quite relieving to be back in a country where I'm not frowned upon for wearing shorts in public. Funny that because of the culture I grew up in, that I'm more comfortable with the boisterous Spaniards and Western tourists hanging out of their clothes, drinking loads of alcohol, and being loud and rowdy...

Our last day(s) here were much the same. Browsing food and hoping to satisfy our culinary desires while staying under a budget. Both and neither kind of happened. We searched online for "cheap food Barcelona" and "good food barcelona" and made a list of possible eat-ins (depending on prices if they were not posted online). We fulfilled most of them, though we went overboard on some Tapas (pronounced Tay-paz for my fellow I.T. Crowd friends) but we felt it well worth it (or at least we told ourselves that, fuck we love food way too much). Even after eating and being full, we browse cafes like gluttonous first-world heathens.

Today (the last day as I'm writing this, though who knows when I'll get to post it), as we were going to Pim Pam Burger for the third time this week, we noticed there was a Pim Pam Plats just around the corner. We entered to find out it was the original Pim Pam and the burgers became so popular they opened a second place dedicated  to their godliness. The [LINK Plats] place has an assortment of take-out (or eat-in) food that all looked heavenly and my broken wallet and reminder that we only had that day left, saddened me that I could not eat one of everything. This time, we got their three cheese burger and their blue cheese, Roquefort, burger. I won't bother you with details, but I had yet another love affair with my food and I think I saw Jake's eyes glisten with every bite.

Afterward, it was my last chance to shop around for some better warm-weather clothes, so I scampered off and Jake and I agreed on a meeting place to gather ourselves before heading out. After walking the city one last time, for 5 hours (it goes by there!), we met up at Happy Pills, a candy store we were dying to take part in. 

I felt like some street photography, so here are a bunch of random pictures I'm too lazy to edit =)

So in Tarifa, I dropped (and lost for good) my debit card (my only form of cash moneys) and have been deciding on how to handle the situation, finally choosing to use my PayPal card (which is a pain, as well as MasterCard which isn't as universal as Lady Visa) but it's okay...

Well today Jake lost his wallet and his cash money options...

We are not having the greatest luck. And yet, I am happy on this trip. Life's not so bad.