Córdoba (again):

It was a weird week in Córdoba. We watched “Juana La Loca” in class on Monday which means we didn’t have our elective classes. Then Tuesday pretty much turned into a Friday because Wednesday was Día de la Hispanidad, a national holiday in Spain. National holidays in Spain are Sundays in the middle of the week. An excuse for people to close shops, post irregular hours at restaurants (open at the most inconvenient times), and do a whole lotta nuthin´ while celebrating independence/saints/cultural pride. That meant that Thursday felt like another Monday but kinda like a Friday too, because the next day was an excursion (a.k.a. no class). With two Mondays, Sunday in the middle of the week and a Friday and a half, I was pretty “off schedule” per-say, considering neither I, nor the rest of Spain, has any concept of a regular schedule. Lucky for me I had something to distract me from all this madness…

…KIKI! My friend Kirstin (who I saw a couple weeks ago in Madrid) is studying in Salamanca and came down for the weekend! Just when I thought my head was going to explode from trying to figure out what day it was, Kiki arrived…Perfect timing in more than one way too! The rain had just stopped AND the city has officially changed seasons. We are getting the wonderful fall weather that is just slightly windy, crisp cold air (a refreshing break from the hot mugginess that welcomed us to Córdoba initially) but still sunny and clear. Its gorgeous, and my favourite season during the school year!

Anyhoo…Kiki got here on Thursday and we headed back to my house cause Carmen said she could stay with us (my host family is totally cooler than everyone else´s, some of my friends can´t even have their friends over in the day, let alone stay with them for a weekend!). We cenar-ed (spanglish for ate dinner) with my family that night before heading out to the Intercambio party hosted for my program and our intercambios (Spanish speaking friends that we get paired up with to practice Spanish) at a bar called Blue near Gran Capítan and the center of town. While Kiki and I enjoyed being out with Chris, Cody and Marissa, we got real tired of the rest of the crowd of obnoxious Americans being obnoxiously loud and doing ridiculous things…as if a group of 70 Americans doesn´t stand out enough in Córdoba as is.

The next day we got up and headed (after a yummy breakfast that included a delicacy here in Spain: fat-free AND cold milk…we are talking serious rarity here folks!) to the parade (bus stop) where we were gonna catch the bus to the Castillo de Almodóvar, up on the top of a hill about 15 minutes outside of Córdoba city. The bus ride would have been enjoyable if I was deaf, but, with fairly decent hearing, I got to listen to the girl behind me talk (to her equally annoying friends) about all the stupid stuff she did at Blue, the night before…as if I hadn’t been there to witness it, and hadn’t been forced to leave out of sheer embarrassment of being associated with them. (SIDENOTE: let me just rant a little bit about the fact that Americans, and especially American girls, have a bad reputation for being loud, imposing, ignorant, and scandalous as is. Then you go to Spain, and to one of the more quiet and reserved areas at that, and perpetuate that exact persona that anyone who is not those things has to deal with. Its embarrassing, not that Im a saint, but I do my best to be as “Un-American” as I can when I go out). Enough said, but sometimes I feel that the title for this program should be: Spanish-for-Dummies-and-other-annoying-people. All in all, its not that bad and its really only a few of ‘them’ that are problems.

Lucky for me, I had Kiki right there next to me, and while the Castillo (forgive the lack of description but if you Google ‘Spanish Castle’ you will get the standard run down of the place) provided a great backdrop for our first outing in Córdoba, getting off the bus back in town was a relief. From there, we followed Spanish procedure of eating, sitting, talking, walking to the next place and eating and talking some more before heading home to (yep, you guessed it, eat again) and then head out. We passed on the Botellón Friday night and opted instead to check out the theatres…and the new movies that just came out here. We saw “Juegos de Mujer” (I don’t know if it translates literally back home but it would mean ‘Games of Women’) with Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz. I have almost stopped noticing the dubbing and now spend the energy trying not to miss anything important. Not my favourite movie, but watching movies in Spanish has become one of my favourite ways to learn!

Saturday, the most beautiful day Córdoba has seen in my stay (that perfect autumn weather) we put on our best tourist hat and explored the Judería and plazas before heading over to the Mezquita. If it wasn’t so expensive, im pretty sure I could go there everyday, its so strange and different and gorgeous all at the same time! After a day of walking around it only seemed right to relax in front of a bar TV, with a beer, and the free tapas that came with it, to catch a couple fútbol games. Word of advice for tapas: learn all the possible names for blood sausage before ordering. Afterward we did the typical Spanish thing (again). Grabbed something at one bar, relocated to the next, and the next adding people here, losing some there, playing darts, eating Kebab (the late-nite Mexican food of Spain) before heading back home.

The fun always has to end, so Sunday morning it was up-an-adam to walk Kiki back to the train station. Its so nice to have someone come visit that knows you and knows about “normal” life for you. The friends I have here are amazing people and wonderful friends. There is just something comforting, I think, in having a good friend from home bring some of that absent, and missed, familiarity into life here. I miss being able to say that ‘that dude remindes me of so-and-so’, and have them know who you are talking about without further explanation. So if I ever move halfway around the world again, you guys will have to all be sure to rearrange your lives, and come with me!

So, yet again, another weekend in Córdoba was a success. Today I woke up feeling a cold coming on, something I will be getting rid of pronto. Next weekend is a 4 day weekend and Basque Country is looking really appealing right now! And a week after that: MOROCCO!!!! I finally get to go to Africa…im so stoked! We will be flying farther south as not to encounter any of the long and arduous land/sea crossing and avoid the whole “TJ” experience that you get in border towns. Casablanca is where we fly into and from there down to Marrakech. Its going to be so wonderful, as long as I don’t drink any tap water or eat anything raw!