Hola todos!
SO HEY from…. Well yeah, the bus.
So this weekend we went to visit the triple threat of
Sevilla, Córdoba, & Granada en el sur de España. This is our last long trip
(we have shorter trips following) and can I just say thus far? Totes worth. And
you know all sassy comments aside about the bus, I’m amazed how fast time passes when
I feel like I am sitting doing ab-so-lute-ly nothing...
So Córdoba first:
Oh wow, so Córdoba was a funny little town. When we visit
little towns that are farther away we usually do it on the way to another town.
IE we had a shorter time in Córdoba while on the way to Sevilla. And when we
got off the bus I remember looking at Córdoba and thinking “welp….. we’ll see
what this is going to be about haha. Looks like an evil little-r Toledo…. That
is somehow less scenic…” annnnd-alright wait it took ALL STINKING DAY to get to
Córdoba, I almost forgot. Picture this: you get up at 5:15 to get ready to run
at 5:30. You finish, go home, shower, and it’s 7:00. You get dressed, pack the rest
of your things, grab breakfast and your lunch your mom made for your trip, and
rush off to the plaza that’s about 8 minutes down the road. You get on the bus
at 8 am. And you stay on it until 1:30
in the afternoon. Can you imagine that?? I don’t have to… since that was my
life on Wednesday.
I actually loved Córdoba. So in our class civilización iberico we spent a few
weeks reviewing classic architecture in Spain. And it was very very very very
boring. But seeing it in person? Phenomenal. And I definitely wish I payed
attention more in class haha. Dang… anyway, it was so crazy. Something I wasn’t
aware of when I came to Spain was the presence of middle-eastern influences. As
someone who studied Spanish in the context of almost exclusively South and Central
America, I didn’t know too much about 1. European geography 2. Specifics of
European history. It’s not a big deal since it means I’ve learned a lot in my
time here, but it didn’t make sense why 1. There are no Mexican restaurants and
2. Every big city seems to have at least a half dozen kebab shops, among other
things that aren’t related to food haha. I asked this to Sonia and she throws
her hands up in the air and says something to the effect of why would we want to have Mexican food
here?? This is Spain! In America, you’re right next to Mexico, yes? So you have
a lot of Mexican restaurants. In Spain, it’s the same with middle eastern
restaurants like the kebab shops. We’re not going to have Mexican food here,
it’s allllll the way on the other side of the ocean, there’s no reason we should have it here. So... I
really miss tacos haha. ANYWAYS WHAT I WAS TRYING TO GET AT: In Spain, a lot of the history
-in a very very blanket statement over a few thousands of years- is between
three groups: the catholics, the jews, and the muslims. So there are a lot of catedrales, sinagogues, y mosques depending
on what part of the country you’re in, despite the majority of Spain being
catholic. So we went to see the mosque
in Córdoba and it was incredible and so
different from every thing else we’ve visited. Totally worth it. If you can
stomach all of the tourist shops with the arches and potted plant tshirts.
When we got back on the bus we went to fnd the hotel in
Sevilla. I’m still not sure how to spell it because in English I think it’s
Seville, and in Spanish Sevilla (seh-bee-ya). I was hecka hungry so Alyssa, Rachel, Megan, and I decided to hunt out some food and decided to go to this
Italian restaurant. And I died. I DIED. Have you ever had real Italian pizza???
I feel like that is just thrown around in the states, “real Italian pizza”.
Admittedly, I wasn’t in Florence or anything crazy but WE HAD THE MOST INSANE
PIZZA. Do you know how insane a pizza has to really be to still be talking
about it days later?????? It was great. But by the time we were done eating it
was literally almost midnight, holy Hannah.
Next day: SEVILLA
Alright alright alright alright get excited… I LOVE SEVILLA.
Love it.
Sevilla is this just classy
town. It feels like a classic
“Spain” city.
We got to tour the palace and the cathedral... it's the largest gothic cathedral in Spain, if I remember right. If I'm wrong, tell me. Memory don't fail me now! Haha. We got to take these ramps up 1.2 billion feet in air to see the city from the bell tower, it was sweet. But in the least racist way I can say this, seriously what the heck is with asian tourists haha? They are seriously everywhere.
It was great to be in Sevilla, because our hotel was in a useful part of the city haha! Sometimes we stay in a neighbouring town or on the outskirts of the city so we're essentially stranded. But in Sevilla we could stay out if we wanted or go back to the hotel and nap... all good options. So in our free time after our guided tour we came back to recoop and regroup a bit before visiting... well honestly i don't know the name of what we visited. The guide called it "puerta sol" and then drew a line ("puerta!") and pointed upwards ("sol!") so we'd make the connection ("es muy muy facil! puerta... sol!! entendéis?") but you can google "Sevilla mushroom" and it comes up hahaha. We wanted to walk the streets more than figure out what it was, so we kept on going after seeing it. We ended up helping buy a suit and it was hilarious. We brought it back to the hotel and WENT TO SEE A FLAMENCO SHOW.
My thoughts on flamenco:
So there are a handful of things that are essentially at every tourist spot in Spain.
1. merchandise from said city, like those black bags with the rainbow font that say MADRIDMADRIDMADRID or SEVILLASEVILLASEVILLA or LONDONLONDONLONDON... alternatively, very poorly designed shirts that are either red with yellow decals or those tacky black and paint-splattered shirts with said city's name
2. Fans. Hand-held fans. Doesn't matter the town. How many times have I seen someone actually use a fan?? Probably twice.
3. Ugly magnets? Who collects fridge magnets any more?
4. Very cheaply made flamenco dresses
5. Bracelets. Everywhere.
Flamenco dresses and other various silly things are everywhere because the flamenco is a famous dance from Spanish culture. And I was hesitant if I had any interest in even going to it because the dresses look a little strange as an extranjera, but it was SO COOL. I will without a doubt or any hesitation however say that for the safety of your ears you do not need to see more than one flamenco show in a life time. It is MUCHO CLAPPING but so fun to see. New dream... to be a sassy flamenco dancer for a day. Werk it.
Another day: La Alhambra
So in true study abroad fashion: I forgot where we were going. This was neither in Córdoba, Sevilla or Granada. So just pick a city and I will agree with you it was there. Even though it wasn't haha. La Alhambra was SUCH a fun distraction. It was this incredible garden and historical place. But the rule is if you wouldn’t post this many pictures of aa cathedral you shouldn’t post that many of a garden. So I won't. But let me tell you... garden goals. Forreal.
I just realized I don't remember actually stopping in Granada. I might edit this later. But currently... did we go to Granada? haha..... oh shoot.
And basically, we came home (to the hotel) to sleep before the bus ride. Because apparently we had 6 or 7 hours to conquer the next day. BooooOOoooOooooOooooooooooo.
In other news, some Halloweeny updates: Halloween in Spain is not the same.
People do dress up and go out, but it's different. In some towns, they go trick-or-treating. In our town, they had a lot of people out dressed up in the streets for fun, but mostly hanging with friends and doing normal things + face paint and cheap costumes. Not too different from America? We went to this sweeeeet play though. It was really cool!! So the play is called Don Juan and is naturally, a famous spanish obra. In short, Don Juan is a womanizer. He claims he can make any woman fall in love with him/he could conquer any woman (that is a bit of a spanglish translation- use your context clues). And now, I will insert more wikipedia block quotes:
Tirso de Molina wrote “El burlador de Sevilla” in 1630 in order to demonstrate a life-changing lesson. He saw that everyone was throwing his or her life away, living and sinning as they pleased, because they believed that in the end, as long as they repented before they died, they would receive the grace to enter heaven. Through his play, however, he shows that even Don Juan, who is identified as the very devil, a “man without a name” and shape-shifter, has to eventually pay for his sins. Tirso reminds us that we must pay for our actions, and that in the end death makes us all equal.
Although the various iterations of the Don Juan myth show some variation, the basic story remains the same. Starting with Tirso's work, Don Juan is portrayed as a wealthy, seductive libertine who devotes his life to seducing women, taking great pride in his ability to seduce women of all ages and stations in life.
"Tan largo me lo fiáis” is the aphorism that Don Juan lives by. It is his way of indicating that he is young and death is still distant, trusting he has plenty of time to repent for his sins.[2]
It was so fun to watch. But............ they found my weakness. Standing in one place for extended periods of time. Because it was an outdoor play! It was insane! There were maybe 5 or 6 different stages in an arena-type courtyard (the same place they had the fair grounds for la semana cervantina). And scene to scene would take place on a different stage. And we would have shuffle like cows in the night trying to get closer to the next stage to try and see the actors (who were still at least 200 feet away) over a million other heads in the crowd. I've never in my life been so excited to be tall. Spanish people are honestly just short. Sonia (one of our professors) stands at a whopping 5'3" and I'm 5'10" with most shoes and basically it was a great experience for me! Haha. But then I crouched down to be her height and I pretty much lost it because you can't see a single thing hahahaha oh man. Thank you American genes.
So that was basically Halloween. I also bought myself some frozen yogurt. Praise.
Anyways... almost finals week over here! TIME TO PANIC
With love como siempre,
Jessie
Quote of the day:
Jessie: "ah shoot we're gonna be late... we're always laaate"
Alyssa: "it's fine, it's because we smell all da roses."
ALL DA ROSES
ps photos have not finished uploading to dropbox so check back tomorrow if you're SUPER CURIOUS about what the photos will be. Hint: probably about Sevilla, Córdoba, or the flamenco dance. Or me next to a garden. Idk all possible things.
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