January 27

We have had a very enjoyable past couple days, this weekend. Both Thursday and Friday night, Dorothy and I went out with Roberto for tapas. On Saturday morning, we woke up at 6:45am to start off our day-trip to Cordoba. We met about 25 other students and a teacher/tour guide and took a coach bus to Cordoba which is beautiful drive through the mountains about 2 ½ hours away. We first reached Al-Andalus which was the political and administrative capitol of Old Andalus Granada from the 10th century. It was basically ruins of the buildings and we walked around taking pictures and learning about the buildings. Then we got back on the bus and drove to the heart of Cordoba to see the Mesquita. The Mesquita is known for the Christians taking over the Muslims and inside, it has beautiful pillars and murals. As we walked around, we saw both places of worship for Christians and Muslims. Every detail was symbolic of something such as trees and pineapples. There were many trees and pineapples which represented the growth of life. The walls and ceilings were beautiful and very representational. There was also a gorgeous church. Once we left the Mesquita, we took a break for lunch and met back to walk around the city. We walked through a festival in which everyone was dressed up like Medieval Times people. They were all selling lots of jewelry and I learned that Cordoba is the number one creator for jewelry in Spain. Once we walked through the festival, we walked to the synagogue, one of the only synagogues left in the world. It was small and very simple, but each wall had a different meaning. For example, the east wall represented the construction of the synagogue and the creator. We left and took the bus back to Granada. We ended our night by having tapas with some friends at a cute bar, Poe. We got shiskabobs!

Sunday morning we spent nearly an hour trying to figure out the bus schedule. The buses are so difficult, but we finally found the bus we needed to take to the mercadillo, the flea market. As we walked up to the mercadillo, it was very overwhelming. There were quite a lot of people walking around and all the vendors were shouting out their prices over their neighbors. You could find anything you desire at this market, from shoes to nuts to fruit. We had made it through about ¼ and it started pouring and everyone rushed to pack up their goods. We were forced to call it a day and took the bus back soaking wet. Dorothy and I went to Neptuno, an indoor mall, to eat lunch at Bocatta. It was the closest thing to American food, we loved it! On the way back, we stopped at Pan Y Dulces and picked up a desert. Yum! On Sunday night, we finalized our hostels for Italy and completed part of our itinerary for our Italy trip.

This is the last week for my class and my final is on Thursday. My Senora told me today at lunch that all the students who study here worry too much about their finals. She said I shouldn’t be worried….This test is worth 65% of my grade! For lunch, we had bean soup (yuck) and a salad. For dinner, we had potatoes, beans, and carrots and fish soup (it was horrible, I couldn’t eat it…) After lunch, I booked my flight to England for the end of February. This will be my first trip alone to go visit my friend, OD. I am anxious for this week to end so I can go on my trip to Italy!