After my last dinner with my family in Spain and a exchanging gifts (which made Carmen cry, and the kids ecstatic, i love giving gifts!) I headed out to enjoy my last night in Cordoba at the popular local bar, Bar Fija, but we all call it Bamjez cause the scribbly writing on the outside looks like that is what its called. Everyone in the program made it out and it was just a big end of the program celebration for everyone. It was nice to spend the last night with everyone, and even the people who get on my nerves, or who im not as close to were good company. The night wrapped up and i was home by 4am, just in time for a little shut-eye before catchin my morning train to Madrid. What a sight i was.....I had a ridiculous amount of luggage and getting it on and off a train was almost funny, except that I had to lug it around. Not for long though, i dropped it in the lockers in the Madrid airport and headed off for my last hurrah in Barcelona.

When i got there, i was expecting to meet Ashly, my roommate from freshman year who is in Germany for the year, but in a big mess of snow and flight delays she didnt get in until the next day and ending up staying one day later than planned. Cody and Chris also joined us on sunday on thier way out and we took advantage of what Barcelona had to offer.

The first day i wandered the streets of the Barri Gotic (Gothic neighborhood) with the Cathedral, and small christmas market. It was here i learned who Carga Tio was. Carga Tio is a log with a face on one end, legs proping him up in the front and a santa hat, then draped over his back is a blanket. His name, literally "Pooing Uncle" is sort of self expanatory. The tradition (only in Cataluna) is that the kids put food in front of Carga Tio in the days leading up to Christmas, and the log is supposed to grow. Then, when he is big enough, the kids take to hitting him with a stick until he poops out the gifts... a little graphic i know, strange, i know, but interesting. From there, made my way toward the port and harbor and beach and the locals hangout of Barceloneta. It was a gorgeous day, a little chilly but the Mediterranean looked amazing. From there it was time for food and rest. Later that day, Brian, the friend of a friend Ashely and i were staying with was having a little birthday celebration where I ran into 2 other students studying here from my freshman dorm...small world! The night ended many hours later and then it was off for more sightseeing.

Ashley and I met Chris and Cody Sunday morning and made our way towards Park Guell (pronounced Guey). This park was designed by modernist architect Antoni Gaudi and is one the many Barcelonan examples of his ceramic mosaic, curves and arches and other untraditional work. To give you an idea, the place has a gate to enter and on either side are two small houses designed by Gaudi that look like gingerbread houses. The park is amazing and if you hike to the top you can see all of Barcelona, the small windy streets of the Barri Gotic, and the perfectly right-angled blocks in the more modern sector. Then it was back down to other Gaudi wonders. The Sagrada Familia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Familia, is the unfinished cathedral of Gaudi. All the plans are drawn but he died before its completion and work is ongoing. When it is finished it will be the tallest cathedral in the world with around 15 spires. Currently it is the only cathedral in the world under construction. It has a zillion things going on on the outside. Statues, scenes, mosaic, colors, nature, stories, you name it, its there. We didnt go inside and opted in stead to head down to La Pedrera, Gaudi's house and Casa Batllo, another gorgeous and differend building of Gaudi's. The architecture is different than anything i have ever seen and just fun to look at!

Next we walked down to Las Ramblas where we spent most of the rest of our time in Barcelona. This area, between Plaza Cataluna and the port is the eating, shopping, people watching, Starbucks-ing center of the city and we managed to entertain ourselves for the rest of the day and the following. We hit up an amazing Basque tapas, the best in Spain, and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of Spain. Although Barcelona is a bit quicker paced than the rest of Spain we managed to take it easy and not spend any less than a couple hours somewhere everytime we sat down (whether that be coffee, dinner, or this great little medieval tavern/bar type place called L'Oveja Negra or Black Sheep).

This morning Chris and Cody left and are on their way home home! Im off to Madrid for my last night in Spain, Ashley's going back to Germany and things are pretty much wrapped up for me. Not sure exactly what my feeling are yet about leaving, still working those out but i have some good ole alone time tonight in Madrid to figure those out.

Barcelona remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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ok, i swear ill finish it now!

So i crossed back over the river and went to the Bull Ring. This ring, along with the one in Ronda are the sights of the first bull fighting schools, and have seen some famous Correderos (bull fighters) like Manolette, killed in the ring. You had to take a tour to see the inside so i bought my ticket and we entered the stadium through one of the (not prinicple) doors of the ring and into the stands. There are 4 doors into the actual ring, one for the nobility the only green section in the otherwise yellow ring, one for the bulls, one for the horses, and one to the infirmary where they take the wounded fighters. We didnt actually get to step in the ring but you get a good idea of what it would look like full. There is the sun section (cheap) and the shade section or "sombra" where the more wealthy people could afford to sit. We walked down below the seats into the museum where you could see the head of the bull of the mother of the bull that killed Manolette (talk about superstitions). We saw other garb of the past fighters and some vintage posters of past fights before glancing at the infirmary and its operating table, and the horse stalls. The tour was pretty short, but it was cool to see all the parts of the ring.

Then it was back through the cute neighborhoods and colorful streets, Sevilla is so colorful, and back to the Cathedral. This thing is huge. Second largest in Europe, and you can tell. Its Gothic which means that they tried to build the ceilings as high as they could in stone and arches with the rosette stained glass windows. It took more than a century to construct and has tons of Chapels, a treasury, multiple altars and choir bay, a ginormous organ and tons of people. The most amazing thing is that its huge, there is cool stuff inside but its pretty boring to write about so you can read my travel book when i get back to get all the info. Then if was up the Giralda, the minaret left from when that was the sight of the mosque during Muslim rule of Spain. You can climb up the 35 levels of ramps and get a great view of the city. They build ramps so that the bell ringers could ride thier horses up to ring the bells for prayer (as is the use of the Minaret). Ok, so after a hefty portion of time there, i headed back out into the gorgeous sun and towards the Plaza de España. Unlike most other plazas this one is a semi-circle, with a huge fountain in the middle and ceramic tile fountains around the perimeter with different themes of and about Spain on each on. There wasnt much going on in the Plaza but to imagine it full of people during the Feria (Sevilla's main event that takes place in Spring).

It was time for another Starbucks break, considering i dont have one in Córdoba and have thus been starved of this ridiculous addiction before wandering around a little more. It was almost 4 and about time to catch the train back to reality so i made my way back through the bustling streets of Sevilla and onto the rickety train to Córdoba (really, it was a rocky ride). Made it back safe though and luckily still had some sun to enjoy here in Córdoba. Sevilla is gorgeous. It has all the small town charm of Córdoba but more color, Starbucks, more lively and a gorgeous river! For all those wanting to study in Andalucía or even just visit, Sevilla should be top of your list!

Sevilla remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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...Thursdaz December 1st (zeah for december!! wow, those words looks ridiculous spelled with a 'z'), I got outta Córdoba in a hurrz, no reallz. Schools out at 2, train leaves at 3, have to walk home (20 min) do that whole "hez im leaving see zou in a few dazs thing while grabbing mz packed lunch" and jet to the train station (20 min). Lets just saz we were cutting it close. Nonetheless, made the train to Madrid no prob, and hopped on the 1st of the 3 Metro lines if would take to get to the airport to catch mz flight to Berlin, Germanz.

The trip started out horriblz for Codz (him and Chris were heading to Munich this weekend) who got his wallet, luckilz without his passport but with 300 Euros (just less than $400) stolen out of his front pocket on the subwaz. People suck sometimes! There reallz isnt much zou can do after getting robbed on a subwaz except suck up the (big) loss and trz to move on. So, on we moved and an hour later i waved bze to the bozs and headed to mz gate for Berlin!!

First sign of a good trip: Christmas music plazing on the plane when I boarded. Aside from being excited to see Laura and meet her familz, i was even more excited to go to a countrz that reallz gets into the spirit of Christmas and does the whole decorating until we are blue in the face and so tired of the smell of pine, roasted chestnuts, gingerbread and mulled wine that i wanna scream thing. I love Christmas and i am missing all the hzpe, well, i was until i came here. Anzwaz, the flight was standard, Iberia airlines was onlz a few minutes late (thats the closest zou can get to on-time with them) and was greeted bz Laura, Daniela (her mom) and Raimond (her dad) when i got off the plane. It was such a nice welcome and although i hadnt met her parents before, verz homez and comforting.

From there it was back to Laura's house, built up and down instead of side to side, as is the custom in Germanz and much of Europe. Her room smells like mine did when she was stazing in it, which to mz surprise was comforting. Its not too often that zou get familiar smells and since zour sense of smell is the onlz of the 5 senses linked directlz to memorz, this one brought me home. Ok, sappz sappz i know, but being here is reallz wonderful and while I am going to miss Europe and I know ill wanna go back as soon as life gets going again back in CA, i could use a good dose of all of zou right now.

Ok, one nights sleep, served up in a comfz bed and real pillow (with a chocolate on top). Then Fridaz morning off to school. No, reallz, i went to school with Laura for her 1st class (biologz) and since thez had just had a huge exam, nothing was going on, except the cleaning of the mice cages. Note to self: Kids will not have mice, because mom will not be cleaning another mouse cage in her life. After that Laura had to finish the daz at school and i got to take off. Daniela picked me up and we headed off for mz first dose of sightseeing.

(So now that i have written about absolutelz nothing that I have done, im done for the first part. But if i can just paint the picture of what it looks like here right now, as in this verz moment at night its like they decked the halls here with all sorts of holly and whatnot and the whole place is lit up like Tim Taylor gone too far with the Christmas lights on one episode of 'Tool Time'! However, Im not complaining. The commercialized Christmas Spirit is a nice change from the sort subtle religious tradition of the peninsula that Santa, Jingle Bells and Candy canes forgot, although I have heard that Christmas in Spain can be a Not-so Silent Night. Who knows, its just nice to get out and see the roasting chestuts in the Christmas Markets and drink some Mulled Wine (actually that latter isnt really all that enjoyble). Ok, now zou understand so come back soon, i promise to have more for zou).

Ok so now that I am back at a regular keyboard you get all the right characters and letters where they are supposed to be. BUT...not all is fine and dandy because i had written another day and a half´s worth of goings on and somehow it was not saved...UUGGHHH!!! technology is soooo frustrating. Anyway, so i will do what i should have done the whole time which is write my opinion of the place, and insert the links to the historical information...then its optional to read it or not (ohhh, how thoughtful of me, and lazy). Well, thats what you get when computers mess with me, so here goes the rest of Berlin:
BASICALLY EVERYTHING IN BERLIN (aka everything i saw in short summaries and the pictures are better than the links in the actual blog, read something, then find the pictures here): http://www.berlin-tourist-information.de/english/sightseeing/e_si_sehenswuerdigkeiten.php

Friday morning Laura's mom and I headed off to Charlottenburg Schloss, the palace built by Fredrick I (the "soldier king" for his science and music loving wife Sofie Charlotte), http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/charlottenburg.htm or http://www.berlin-tourist-information.de/cgi-bin/sehenswertes.pl?id=13357&sprache=english for pictures and info and stuff. The most interesting things were the ceramic room with over some 2000 pieces of imported ceramic mostly from China and some from Japan. This stuff was a pure demonstration of wealth in the times of the Prussian Empire and the Prussian (German) kings were in no shortage. The sheer massivness of this Versaille-type palace, especially similar because of the "French gardens" that span as far as you can see out the back windows of the palace. This time of year all the fountains are off and drained and the flowers are replaced by different colored rocks to get the effect of the design without all the splendor. We didnt spend too much time outside anyway because it was freezing so we stayed inside and marveled at the tapestried walls, different color themed rooms, multiple harpsicords and general palace gaudiness that sparkles and shines and you cant touch!

After wishing i was Sofie Charlotte so that my war-obsessed husband could have built me a palace for all my musical and scientific interests and wants we snapped back to reality to head to Checkpoint Charlie. On the border of the American sector of divided Berlin and the east, this was one of the places that people crossing from east to west had to stop if they were crossing legally. The actual checkpoint is a small white toll booth hidden underneath the hoisted portrait of an American soldier on one side, and USSR on the other, but the real attraction there is the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie: http://www.mauermuseum.de/english/frame-index-mauer.html This museum is home to the history of the Berlin wall, and various escape routes that were attempted and some successful from those fleeing the Eastern communist oppression. The most famous it when 2, 4 person families made a hot air balloon out of 1250 sq. meters and stood in 2 sq. meters of basket for 28 minutes as they crossed the border.

Ok time out for a little history of Berlin and its wall. (http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/mauer.htm) The blockade of Germany into East: communist Russia and West Germany: Divided among the French, British and American, happened before the actual construction of the wall in 1961. But the wall was the concrete symbol (pun intended) of the division. People were not allowed to pass from one side to the other without special permission and that was extremely hard to get and had so many stipulations that is was not even a possibility for many. People tried everything to cross from one side to the other (almost always East to West) and it wasnt until 1989 and the fall of the USSR that the wall was officially torn down. Today there are still remnants of the wall as reminders, memorials and art (East Side Gallery). Today, Germany is united under one flag (Black, Red, Yellow horizontal stripes WITHOUT the black eagle) but there are still some differences between the east and west, one very controversial are the little crossing the street men: in East germany the are different from the rest of Europe which has been controversial but for now they remain. They have little hats on and walk funnier than the traditional green and red men!

Ok, next was back home to meet Laura after school. We had dinner and relaxed and I just enjoyed the family time before heading to Sandra´s school for the "Anything Goes" performance. I kept thinking that if i just listened a little bit longer i would understand german, and when that didnt happen i just sat back and enjoyed the christmas-y feel of the whole production right down to the Christmas songs sung by the choir...how i love Germany!!! After that is was home and to bed because the next day would be crazy.

Saturday morning bright and early Laura and I made pancakes, eggs, toast and other yummy breakfast foods for the family before bundling up and heading out. First stop, the massive and gorgeous Brandenburger Tor (Gate, and the only one left from the time of the wall, even though it was in place long before): http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/brandenburgertor.htm (its much prettier than these pictures). Then it was off to freeze to death...sort of. The Reichstag in Germany is famous for many things. Its the building Hitler resided in until if burned and he used that as an excuse to declare war, it was bombed in the war and used without a roof for sometime, and now is a tourist attraction-extrordinaire with a large glass dome you can climb up and get a 360º view of all of Berlin from...GORGEOUS. From here you could see the the tallest tower in Berlin, Fernsehturm, East Germany´s way of demonstrating ther were technologically as advanced as the west although Swedish designers helped to build the 368m tall TV tower (http://images.google.com/images?q=Fernsehturm&hl=en). Also visible is the Tiergarten (Central Park of Berlin) and Siegussäule (http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/siegessaule.htm) , the 70m column topped with the goddess of victory. Originally in front of Brandenburger Tor to commemorate Prussia´s win over France and later egotistically moved to a more prominent position by Hitler as a demonstration of power. Had we not waited in line in the freezing weather (literally, although we were a little distracted by the street performers) i would have loved to spend more time there but we decided to head somewhere a little warmer after that. Pictures and History here: http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/reichstag.htm.

Ok, next we made our way past the massive and controvesial Holocaust Memorial which i thought very tactful, tasteful, original and impressionable (http://images.google.com/images?q=holocaust+memorial+berlin&hl=en). Then on to Potsdamer Platz. Originally a military mobilization ground, now its the sight of the Sony Center (http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/potsdamerplatz.htm), tons of clubs and bars and shopping, kinda like the Embaracdero center of San Fransisco. It was here that Laura and I hit up H&M number 2 of our excursion through all 8 H&M´s in the inner city of Berlin.

After that, it was really time to warm up and we hopped the U-Bahn or S-Bahn (i forget because they have so many good and fast trains everywhere) to Friedrichstrasse the 5th Avenue of Berlin with all its ritzy shops, and yes, some more H&M´s. The most important sight on this street is the Schokoladen Museum. Yep, thats right, a "museum" of chocolate. I think they can only call it that because they have scale models of Berlin sights in chocolate inside, otherwise its just an amazing chocolate shop that smells and tastes amazing.

After our little break in the wonderful candyland of schokoladen, we passed the Deutscher Dom and Franzöischer Dom, almost identical churches, the first German the latter French on opposite ends of the Gendarmenmarkt (currently sight of an amazing Kriskidermarkt =christmas market) and plaza in front of Berlin's Concert Hall: http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/gendarmenmarkt.htm. Wondering a little farther we passed Humboldt Universität (http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=Humboldt+universitat), the alma mater of the Brothers Grimm, Karl Marx, and Einstein, past Bebelplatz, the sight of the book burning during the Nazi regime and to Alexanderplatz below the TV tower.

From there it was another train to one of my favorite parts of Berlin: Kurfurstndamm, or Ku-Damm for short. More shopping and streets filled with Christmas lights and people and christmas cheer and yummy smelling food. The huge Harrod's/Neiman Marcus type stores were decked out in full with live music and ginormous Christmas trees inside. Even the cathedral, bombed in the war and left as-is (with newer structures functioning as the active church) was pretty and lit up in the night sky. The best part of Ku-damm, by far was its Kriskindelmarkt (i think that is how you spell it).

We wandered the market, warmed up with Glüwein (hot wine traditional in christmas time all over Germany) and some gingerbread cookies and looked at all the crafts while strolling past endless pastries, wurst and other delicious looking dinner items. We passed up all the yummy looking food at the market and headed back home where i got my fill of Klöss (potato dumpling) Schnitzel (fat noodles) and a delicious sauce, followed by amazing chocolate mousse and other assortment of cookies and yummy chocolate. Off to bed after a full day because there was still more to do.

Sunday is family day in Germany. Like Spain the shops close up and so we made our way to the "Story of Berlin" (http://www.story-of-berlin.de/flash.html) an amazing display of Berlin through the ages with all sorts of aesthetically pleasing exhibits and hands on type stuff. Very well put together and a great way to kind of wrap up and put everything i have learned in the weekend in chronological order. After that we hopped the train back to the Gendarmenmarkt for another Kriskindlmarkt where i finally got to have hot wurst and cabbage called Grünkohl, and some other delicious things. After checking out the vendors here, and relishing all the delicious smells of everything christmas we headed to the last tourist attraction of my visit: Berlin Mauer. It is a the sight of the entrance to an underground bunker for Hitler and his Gestapo during the war and is underneath part of the Old Wall. Its pretty gloomy and the freezing overcast weather definitely set the mood of doom, destruction and all other negativities of war. It was time to go and we all (Laura, her parents, and I) headed back home to just relax in the warm home. Tea time was accompanied by Stölle (sweetbread with candied fruits) and then some tv and relaxing before dinner and the sauna (which they have in thier basement, talk about a relaxing weekend)!

Berlin is a great city. There is so much to do, i still feel like i didnt get to see everything and i would love to go back in the summer when i can enjoy all the outdoor stuff and nightlife. The city itself is so rich in history and culture that there is something to get out of every sight you see. AND on top of it all, the christmas-y feel just made everything that much better because i needed a good dose of that. What a great trip to finish up my big travels abroad. Just Sevilla is left in Andalucia, and Barcelona at the end with Ashley!! Then home for the holidays!!!!

Berlin FINISHED! remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Everyone was just happy to be with everyone else, in that kind of sappy forget-all-your-differences-and-just-enjoy-the-night kinda mood which made the whole experience even that much more enjoyable. Good company, good food, not so good wine made up for by good champagne, fun photos, and getting to go out with your teachers = GREAT NIGHT!

After the dinner, the hotel staff was ready to kick our lively crowd out, and, we all, including Antonio and Rafa (my history and International Relations professors) came out to the next stop, one of those whole in the wall bars you can only find once. Seeing your professors in a bar is strange enough, then realizing that your entire class essentially just put on skirts and ties and relocated to the bar….now that is interesting!

Sometime later we left the bar (into the literally freezing air, apparently some polar front has just moved into Spain) and headed towards another club. Cody, Marissa, and I, never quite made it and instead headed back to Cody´s to warm up our feet and eat, again! After that I braved the cold one more time, go get home where I plopped down on my bed around 4am and called it a night (or a morning??!!?).

It was definitely no traditional thanksgiving, but if I couldn’t be with my family yesterday then this was definitely a good way to spend it.

Turkey Day! remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The town itself is filled with churches, the first university in Europe, the Cathedral, plazas, statues, a Plaza Mayor more beautiful than its predecessor in Madrid, and countless ofher buildings that fit the architectural style the monuments giving the city a coherent but not uniform feel. There is even a Zara (womens clothing store) in the shopping district built into an old church. Its amazing!

So as i walked around with my mouth gaping open at the beauty of the city, Kiki and I took in some of the tourist sights, wandered the town, frequented a local Irish pub for some good ole rugby watchin´and beer, hit up one of the packed bars for the Madrid-Barça game, ate delicious food (pancakes!!!!!!!), shopped, and enjoyed the scenery.

After 5 hours on a bus, 30 hectic minutes in between modes of transportation and 2 ½ more hours on a train, I was in Salamanca! Kiki met me at the train station and we headed toward the center of town where all the life is! Instead if heading straight home, we made a pit stop at O´Harahs, the Irish pub in town, this was just the first of our visits to what I will now refer to as the O.H. As if it just being an Irish pub wasn’t good enough, they had my favorite weissbier on tap; Paulaner, and I took advantage of it! A few hours later, after meeting up with friends and having a merry old time, we headed over to another Salamancan favorite, a bar called Jacko´s. The night just got better from there and I learned that B-52´s are not just a band, but a rather tasty drink. Very near 4 am, we finally made it back to Kiki´s house. After hanging our clothes on the balcony (as anything you wear inside in Spain takes on that sweet stench of cigarette smoke), we climbed into bed to catch some ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz!

Friday morning we lounged a bit and ate breakfast while looking out the balcony window onto the gorgeous Río Tormes. The trees lining either side, the leaves changing colors, the reflection of the bridge in the smooth water…need I say more? We headed out to play tourist (one of my favorite games) and made our first stop at the Universidad de Salamanca. The first university in Spain, this building was opened in 1218 and still holds some of the original books, and classroom benches. We entered through the famous façade where you can spend hours trying to find the frog (carved into the top of a stone skull on one of the pillars of the decorated entrance) that will bring you good luck, called “La Ranita de Suerte” (the little frog of luck). When you enter, you find the carved stone stairwell and elaborate ceilings that adorn the building and are just one more thing of beauty. Even more impressive was stop number 2 on our tour. The Cathedral. Its gorgeous. As you walk through it, you are led through passages and up stairs as you make your way up to the upper levels where you can walk around the outside for a great view of the city and wander in and out of the various rooms, gazing at the alter, finding cracks still visible from the 10.0 Lisboa earthquake of 1755. Walking through it you can almost imagine the priests from the 18th century making their way through the passageways (the choir music playing softly on surround sound definitely doesn’t take away from the mood either). After snapping back to reality we headed down the steep stairs and out onto the streets.

Wandering through the streets lines with the tourist stores we made our way to the plaza to grab some lunch before the afternoon of shopping . The Plaza Mayor in Salamanca is always crowded with students, couples, families, kids, dogs, and cute little old couples in matching outfits sitting together. After chilling ourselves to the bone we headed back toward home. On the way we ran into Clancey (kiki´s roommate) and her and I headed out for a run near the river. As it started to get dark, the lights in the city came on and from the riverbank where we were running we could see the gorgeously lit Cathedral and Roman bridge. It was definitely an image vying for a spot as the calendar page for November. Seriously, the city is gorgeous, the epitome of fall and absolutely beautiful.

Saturday was another relaxing day. Slept late, headed out for PANCAKES!!!, which we had found the day before at a restaurant in the Plaza. Soooo yummy! But, like many other “American” foods here, it wasnt quite satisfying (as they were the sixe of a a san dollar and you only get 2) and headed to the cutest little bakery just off the plaza for some Hornazo, the typical empanada of Salamanca. Imagine a hot pocket, pizza flavored, with 3 kinds of meat (and by three kinds of meat i mean 3 different parts of the ham). It was delicious! After that, we needed to walk off our meal(s) so headed back to the shopping strip. You think i would be sick of shopping but when your legs are 8 inches too short for pants (literally, im not kidding) or your shoulders are wider than 6 inches, finding clothes that fit is pure luck, which means that after not succeeding many a times to find cute stuff, we try try try try and try again.

To break up the shopping monotany (yes shopping gets old after a while, EVEN for me!) we headed over to the local peluquería (hair dresser) for a little ‘do’. Nothing crazy or anything, dont worry, the mullet will have to wait for another time, but i now have a few tasteful streaks of Córdoba orange (removable as soon as I am tired of them because i didnt actually dye my hair, they’re extensions!). So, now, feeling a little rejuvenated by our semi-rebellious behavior (why its rebellious i dont know, its not like anyone was telling us we couldnt do that, or anything else here), we headed over to our favorite little irish pub for some RUGBY!!!!!!!!

New Zealand vs. England kept us entertained, and every other rugby fanatic in Salamanca for the next few hours. As if rugby wasnt enough sport for one day, it wasnt too long after the rugby game that we were headed over to the any bar that had space for one of the biggest sporting events in all of Spain. The Real Madrid vs. Barcelona soccer match. These teams here are like the Dodgers and Giants to baseball fanatics, if you like one, you CANNOT like the other. Except here everyone is a fanatic! Its nuts, every bar was packed and we ended up standing up for the entire game (that Real was absolutely outplayed in....booo hooo!). Kiki and I had a great time yelling at the screen and laughing at the great acting scheme that goes on in professional soccer games (no one is ever really hurt but you wouldnt be able to tell by the amazing martial arts rolls and the grabbing of whatever part of your body you are faking injury with this time).

Sunday morning we got our lazy butts outta bed for a run to the local rostro, or market. Much like the one in Córdoba, the tables are piled high with socks and other cheap items. We were only able to spend a little time here before heading back so i could catch my train.

It was so nice to see Kiki again, and I just am that much more excited to have her as a roommate, and now i have one more city on my list of must-sees in Spain too!

Salamanca remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Boring stuff first: The Weather. Its cold here! My body thermometer is permanently registered at 65-70 °F, courtesy of beautiful San Diego, and I, as well as many of my other California friends are filling up our mornings complaining about the cold. BUT, truth be told, as much as I dont like being cold, its a nice change to have seasons.

Speaking of seasons, Christmas comes earlier here than in the States. They have no Thanksgiving to wait until as the 'official' start of the Christmas season, so now that its cold enough, we can call it Christmas time. This means that Christmas candies (Turron: nouget with different types of nuts, Mantecados: really buttery and yummy melt-in-your mouth cookies in assorted flavor, chocolate, and an unfortunate assortment of those nasty liquour candies: Marachino cherries here do not mean the deliciosly flourecent ones for the top of your sundae, they mean jellies cherry saturated with Anis (black licorice flavor) liquour native to Córdoba...gross!). Also, Christmas season means that El Corte Ingles, the 'Godfather´of Spanish shopping (aka a huge department store that has EVERYTHING!) has strung lights all over the outside of the building, and the rest of the downtown area has followed suit! They havent turned the lights on at night yet, but the lighting of the city is in just a couple weeks. Its so cute! Like small town,lets-crowd-around-the-fire-and-eat-roasted-chestnuts(which really happens if you go to Valencia)-stroll-through-the-christmas-shops-and-stare-at-the-manger-scenes in the windows(or singing christmas trees), cute!

Despite the cold, I have still managed to get out and about. I finally made my way to one of the Teterías (tea houses) here in Córdoba for some té con leche (tea brewed with milk), my favorite of the teas and infusions here. Entertaining myself at the cines (movie theatres) which are half the price of US theatres, has been interesting. American movies are better in their original voices (not dubbed) but Spanish movies are really good.

My search for warm clothes continues. I definitely didnt bring enough socks when i came, socks were most definitely at the bottom of my list of items to pack back in scorching August, and now im paying for it with frozen toes.

Um, what else is new?? I dunno, cant think of anything specific right now, i need to write stuff down thats odd/different/entertaining when i see it so i can remember to write it later. Well, in that case, we should all get back to whatever activity we were putting off by reading/writing this. Off to Salamanca this weekend to visit Kiki!!!! Making my way to a new part of Spain the central Northwest (just west of Madrid), where we will watch the biggest fútbol match of the season for Spain, Real Madrid vs. F.C. Barcelona!

Much love to all of you. Missing you more now that the holidays are closer, but always thinking about you guys, and cant wait to see you in a month!

Dont worry Córdoba... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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A short night sleep later we boarded the 6 hour train to Valencia, home of Valencia oranges, Tomatino (the tomato throwing festival), Paella, Agua de Valencia (Spanish version of mamosas), Horchata de Chufa (made with Chufas, a peanut like nut instead of rice), and gorgeous buildings. I know the last doesn’t sound as exciting as the rest, but Valencia really got the whole architecture thing down right. They found the perfect mix of clean and modern, while maintaining some of the old style and even adding gargoyles to match the architecture of some of the remaining castle walls and churches.

We arrived on Friday afternoon to some light rain and real winter weather. Sweater, Jacket, Scarf, and Boots worthy weather! Wandered the city a little bit before settling in a colourful (by that I mean ever floor was a different color) hostel in the old town. Valencia is on the eastern coast of Spain in the Autonomous Community of Valencia, it’s the 3rd largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona and home to the (new) and famous Cuitat de Les Artes I Les Ciencies (Valenciano for City of Art and Science). We reserved the Ciutat for the following day and instead spent our first 24 hours walking the old town and the sites, and tasting real chestnuts…yes, they were roasted over and open fire!

Valencia is home to the Mercado Central (imagine Pike Street market in Seattle, mixed with the farmer´s market and put under the roof of what looks like an old train station and you have Valencia´s central market). Breakfast was a combination of fresh citrus, oranges and clementinas, from the market, after which we hopped across the street to check out the Lonja. The Lonja looks like a church without an alter or pews, and was the site of the 16th century market in Valencia. We forged on, full of yummy orange-y past the Plaza del Ayuntamiento with its gorgeous fountain and flower vendors, and headed toward the Plaza de la Reina and el Catedral. The Catedral in Valencia would be much like any other cathedral in Spain except that this cathedral is home to ‘La Capilla de Santo Cáliz’ or The Chapel of the Holy Grail. Yes…all you Monty Python fans, I have found the Holy Grail, the quest is over! The not so ornate gold chalice, said to be the chalice drunk from at the Last Supper, is encased in glass behind the chapel’s alter, and while you cant really get close enough to see too many details, I can now say that I have seen ‘El Santo Grail’.

Since we were in church-mode, we decided to cross the park (a river-like park that snakes its way through the city) to the Iglesia de Santa Monica, for a little vanity tourism. But the powers at be were keeping my ego in check, and my namesake church was closed. I had to admire it from outside and be satisfied with the small park just outside the church doors. It was about time to head to the train station to meet Sarah and her friends who were coming in from Alicante, so Marissa and I headed that direction, stopping along the way at a delicious looking bakery we had spotted the night before next to the 200 year old Horchatería.
A couple hours later, all the girls were settled into our hostel and we were on our way to the bus stop bound for the Art and Science Center. The center is divided into 4 parts, only 3 of which are finished. We arrived, walking over and under this botanical modern hallway-type-thing made of hundreds of white iron arches. Then climbed downstairs onto the entrance level of the center. We first headed into the Museu de Les Ciencies Principe Felipe on one side of the large modern walkway, bordered on either side by a shallow light blue pool that gives the effect that the very modern, intricately curved buildings have sprouted out of the serene blue. We entered on one side of the hands-on science museum and made our way up to level one of the exhibits. After bending light rays, changing the tone of our voice, experimenting with mirror illusions and two-way mirrors, we moved test our memories by trying to draw a Euro from memory, or sketch a map of Europe, examining brain cells of Alzheimer patients, and even got to watch a chick hatch out of an egg (note to self, add chick to list of possible pets…and farmer to give it to when its not cute and fuzzy yellow anymore). Then we moved on to my favourite part of the exhibit, ‘Deportes’ (sports). Here you could see how high you jumped and if it was high enough to be a professional rugby player, you could time your 10m sprint, shoot hoops, pretend to be John McEnroe (although a John McEnroe in a rare calm state to save yourself from getting kicked out of the exhibit), measure your height in meters (I am 1.66m) and all while learning who, what, when, where, why, and how?

We only gave ourselves 2 ½ hours in the exhibits before heading to our IMAX show about adrenaline and risk. We didn’t even get to really check out the 3rd floor, but hey, there’s always next time (Ha!). So part II of the science center is called L´Hemisfèric and is the huge dome screen with reclined seats used for Planetarium, laser, and IMAX shows. Of the few offered IMAX shows the next available one was about adrenaline and risk sports. As you laid in the seats, with your headset, which you could select to listen to the show in English, Castellano (our Spanish), or Valenciano, watching a huge screen about adrenaline junkies, we felt pretty ridiculous, but it was actually really neat. It confirmed my desire to skydive, and also my complete lack of desire to base jump (skydiving, but jumping off a cliff, and without a back-up parachute).

After the show, we decided to skip part III, L’Oceanogràfic, a huge biodome/aquarium type thing (after having just been to a stellar biodome in Montreàl, I didn’t really feel the need to drop 20 Euros, $25, on entrance to another one) and headed back to get ready for dinner.

Valencia is famous for many things, but it is the birthplace of Paella. A rice dish made with meat or fish, flavoured and coloured bright yellow with saffron. Paella is actually the name of the HUGE wok-type pan used to cook the food in, but the original name, Arroz de Paella, has just been shortened to Paella. Finding a restaurant that was serving the dish was a little harder than we expected, but when we finally settled into a place, the search and the wait was well worth it. Entertaining ourselves with fun girl talk, there were 6 of us, and a few pitchers of Agua de Valencia, the ½ wait for the freshly prepared Paella de Mariscos (seafood paella) flew by. We stuffed ourselves with the amazing rice dish to the point where it tasted so good we all wanted more, but couldn’t fit another bit into our stomachs (not that there was much left in the pan anyway, between the 6 of us, we downed almost an entire pan, about 18” in diameter…no joke!). After the incredible dinner, we were not about to call it a night and headed out.

Bar #1 was a Cuban club, playing all sorts of fun music but the crowd seemed a little older. We hung out for a few and after being offered birthday cake for a 47 year-olds birthday party, we decided to change scenery, and try and find a place a little more in our (how I say this nicely?), generation. Bar #2 was the Irish pub down the street from our hostel. Murrayfield (how Irish) sold my favourite beer, Paulaner, and had rugby stuff cluttering the walls. We hung out for a while and by the time we climbed down the stairs to head out, the place was packed, and a haze of cigarette smoke. Bar #3, the last for the night, was on the way back to the hostel, and was packed. We spent the end of the night dancing away to horrible music with English words and the repetitive Spanish beat that is the base for all club songs here. Nevertheless, it was fun, and we got to stare at the Spanish version of George Clooney (a.k.a. the bouncer) while dancing our little hearts out.

After that, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before our train left the next morning. Getting out again was a nice way to shake off being sick and see a new part of Spain. Also, it was so great to get to see Sarah and have someone around from home that knows about my life before Spain, its nice to have that perspective and that level of comfort, especially this far away from home!

So, that was my weekend. Next weekend its off to Salamanca, east of Madrid to see Kiki, and after that maybe Barcelona, and then Berlin to visit Laura and her family the first week of December. Its starting to feel like the end is in sight, as there are only 5 weeks left in the program, but there is still lots to do, and lots to learn, so I have to remember to stay focused on being here in the moment…aaahhh, always difficult for me. But, I may only do this once, so I better do it right, right?!!!

Valencia: remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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In addition, a wonderful wave of homesickness set in and, well, lets just say it was a rough week.

On Monday I headed back to school, feeling like I had things “under control” although not 100% yet. By Wednesday I could eat normal foods again and Thursday gave way to Friday and I felt pretty good. I was so tired of sitting around and I was ready to shake off the whole sickness/homesickness thing and get outta town, and the perfect opportunity came up!

"The Aftermath" remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our Iberia airlines flight left from Madrid at 11:45am (only a little over an hour late, which makes the signs in the airport advertising for Iberia which say: “Punctuality is our aim” that much more ironic). We arrived in Casablanca, Morocco, and had our first experience with cheap things. Train tickets from Casablanca to Marrakesh (the city we would be spending most of our trip in, located about 1/3 of the way down and about 2 hours from the Atlantic coast) cost 105 Moroccan Dirhams (MAD), which is about $10.00. In Spain a 4 hour train ride like this would cost close to 70Euros, about $85.00. After missing our stop to change trains, we got off at the next one and for a few scary moments didn’t know if we would make it to Marrakesh. But it all worked out and a few hours later we were heading south. The train ride was long and we were ready to be done travelling, but the monotony of the ride was broken up as the sun set…literally.

We had arrived in Morocco during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and a month that consists of fasting from sun up to sun down, prayer 5 times a day, and extra conservative dress for women. So, when we were on the train and the sun finally set, people ate breakfast (yes, they actually call breakfast the meal when they break the fast). This was our first experience with the generosity of Moroccan people with food. Chris and I were talking with a couple men who worked for the Moroccan government and spoke fairly good English. They were teaching us Arabic and about Ramadan and as soon as they could eat they offered us part of their meal. At first uneasy at taking their food, as we had eaten that day, they wouldn’t let us turn it down and we shared a Ramadan breakfast with them.

We finally arrived in Marrakesh and thanked them for all of their help (and food), and headed into the city towards the main square called Place Jamaa El Fna (you can pronounce it with a French or Arabic accent, as both are spoken there). We walked through the plaza and down some side streets looking for hotels or Riads (hostels) to stay at. In Morocco, people are constantly trying to get you to go to their hostel or hotel, or buy their goods or food, and sometimes they have people out on the streets directing you or leading you to their businesses. This was the case for us, as a younger boy, probably 15 or 16 decided to show us to a hotel just off the main place. We arrived to a fairly clean looking hotel (although it was more like a hostel) and for a grand total of 220MAD per night settled in. There were a few bugs crawling around and the bathrooms were not any place you would want to spend a lot of time in, but then again, we weren’t planning on spending a whole lot of time in our rooms.

We were all starved and headed out to get some grub. In the Place at night there are tons of vendors, all selling the exact same food, that try to get you to eat at their place. They get right up in your face and almost herd you to their kiosk where you can pick what you want to eat and have them cook it right there for you. Every kiosk is numbered, and for dinner that night and every night after we chose #55. We were very weary of the food, having been warned a million times about all the dangers of eating unpeeled, uncooked, or raw foods so we opted for all cooked things that night, including a traditional Moroccan dish called Pastilla. Pastilla is a delicious bird covered in almond and cinnamon paste wrapped with pastry dough and sprinkled with flour or powdered sugar on the outside. It sounds wonderful until I tell you that the meat inside is paloma, which is either pigeon or dove depending on who you talk to, and apparently isn’t all that uncommon. It grosses me out to think that I ate pigeon, but it really was tasty.

After dinner we strolled the main Place, joining a Morccon drum circle for a few minutes (I can now put musician on my résumé), and being constantly approached by all-too-cute children begging to sell you a rose for a few dirhams. After a long couple days of travelling we headed back to the ‘hotel’ and hit the hay, laying down on some uncomfortable beds and the hardest, most lumpy pillows I have ever felt (imagine rolling up shag carpet and stuffing it in a pillowcase…kinda like that). Regardless, it was nice to lay down and go to sleep, rest would be much needed for the days to come.

Saturday: Our first full day in Morocco started off with fresh squeezed orange juice from one of the many identical orange juice vendors in the Place. We headed next to a park where we heard camels could be ridden and where a beautiful lake with a view of the Atlas mountains was…man, where we disappointed. Two piddly looking camels, a dirty pond, and no view of the mountains through the smog left us a little bitter for having to pay for a taxi out there. But, you cant dwell on that, so what do you do when you are a little discouraged, well, if you are with Cody and Chris, you go eat! So, we did. This was our first experience with Moroccan mint tea, and Moroccan bread, both absolutely delicious. The bread is like a thick version of the delicious tortillas they sell on the streets in Old Town San Diego, and the tea is a ridiculously sweet version of mint tea, never had anything like it!

After that, we had more energy and decided to head towards the tombs where (please excuse the blunt and probably politically incorrectness of this statement) the dead arabic dudes where buried. I cant say that they were all famous, or rulers, or special, cause they weren’t, but it is one of the few actual tourist sights IN Marrakech, so I felt a little obligated to check it out. To spice up the place we attempted to spell out Morocco in Arabic body language, but, given our lack of Arabic knowledge, it just turned into a jumble of arms and legs in random directions, resulting in us just looking ridiculous, as usual! We left the tombs and started to walk back towards the place, losing ourselves in ‘the real Marrakech’ among the natives and their shops, off the beaten path of the tourist. As the only white people in the neighbourhood, we got some pretty interesting looks, and us 3 girls, dressed differently than the rest of the women, were especially looked at differently, but that’s the nice thing about having 6’3” and 6´4” guy friends travelling with you, if ever uncomfortable, hide just drop back next to them, and its like this wall pops up. It’s a very different feeling for me to feel like I actually NEEDed someone to be behind me, just in case. It was definitely an added comfort of having the boys with us, and something I was very thankful for a few times in the souks (markets).

After finding our way out of the maze of coral coloured stucco buildings, motorcycle repair shops, and meat shops with live chickens hanging upside down inside, we were back out on the main street. Hunger set in, and we faithfully headed back to #55 for dinner. We tried some new things, vegetable cous-cous made the favourites list, as did aubergine (my personal favourite)! As would be the case ever night after, mint tea flowed non-stop, and we walked away satisfied. As we walked back to our hotel, we ran into Juan Ma, Marissa´s Spanish brother, with his dad and friends who happened to be playing tourist in Morocco as well. After having a ‘copa’ (drink) with them, we headed back to the hostel for some shut-eye.

Sunday morning was warm but slightly overcast, much like most of the other days, and in the search for breakfast food, decided that there was no need for anything nutritional that morning, and decided on ice cream, Moroccan pistachio ice cream is nowhere near as good as David Rico pistachio here in Córdoba, I can tell you that much! But, it satisfied my breakfast craving, and we were ready to go! Now, so far I have made it sound like we have spent hardly any time in the souks, the Moroccan markets where you haggle and they haggle and you bargain and they bargain for anything from shoes to turbans to tea sets to Moroccan rugs, but I have mislead you, sorry. We had done our fair share of shopping but today was THE shopping day. We found yet another new market area and bought spices, clothes, handicrafts and in Chris´s case, a rug making him the winner of the ‘who-can-bring-home-the-most-extra-weight’ contest. The souk experience is like any other market (like in Mexico) where you get herded into shops and have to bargain down absurd prices, BUT the mix of colors, languages, materials, crafts, smells, and a zillion other factors also make the souks of Marrakech entirely different.

We heard some of the funniest things while in the souks. Some of the common hooks to get you in the shops were, “You speak English?” or “Where you from?” (after which we would make them guess where we got every continent of the world except for North America…go figure). My favourite hook line had to be, “For you I make good price,” after which they take down whatever you had slightly glanced at and whip out the pad of paper to start the bargaining receipt where you pass it back and forth writing down your prices. Then they offer you their, “Ultimate last price,” and when you walk away, unwilling to pay they quickly chase after you saying, “No, not my ultimate last price,” and continue to bargain until you go too low and they walk away looking disgusted, and you realize you didn’t want it that bad anyway, or they concede and you now have another piece of Morocco to take back with you. It’s a process, and is fairly tiring as a shopper, I cant imagine how frustrated/tired/bored of the whole bargaining process the shop owners must be at the end of their day.

At the end of our day, we dropped our purchases off at the hotel. We walked in the door about the time of break-fast again and the dueño (hotel operator) offered, in true Moroccan spirit, to share his meal with us. We tasted traditional Moroccan soup, made of vegetables, had some coffee, and hard boiled egg (and a couple other things that were probably on the list of things you are not supposed to eat while in Morocco), which tied us over until dinner. We headed up to our rooms, to change into our traditional Moroccan garb, the boys in all linen and turbans and us girls in our head covers and linen shirts. Dinner at #55 again for some more of our favourite foods and our great evening was only slightly dampened, pun intended.

It had started to rain a bit, but that was manageable. The real drag was the tourist group of Americans that sat down next to us. They managed to find everything in the world to pick at. From the food, to the city, to the fact that “this” experience (in Morocco), is just as “cultural” of an experience as you would get “shopping for a leather jacket at Gucci in Milan.” I was utterly disgusted! Sometimes I don’t understand why people travel, and its that kind of tourists that give other American travellers a bad name…UUGGHH!! After those comments, I just blocked out the rest of their complaints and enjoyed my dinner and tea.

Sunday was our last night in Marrakech and what is there to do in Marrakech…SHOP! Even the guys were into the whole shopping thing, which never happens, and we wandered through the souks adding more to our purchase collection!

Monday (HALLOWEEN!!!!) we weren’t leaving until later that night and decide to do something different. So, we sought out somewhere to ride camels for real! We hopped in a cab and 20 minutes later all 5 of us were on top of camels, being led through this desert/oasis (yes I know those are oxymoronic but what would you call a ton of sand-dirt punctuated with palm trees?). The ride lasted just long enough for my bum to start hurting (I guess that Saharan trek by camel will have need some training beforehand). Upon paying and leaving we encountered some difficulty. We had negotiated 200MAD for everyone, and they ‘camel guy’ wanted 200MAD a piece, saying it was more because they had taken our picture and blah blah bullcrap! After arguing and handing over 400MAD we walked away and hopped in the cab, a little nervous, not entirely sure what to do. Lucky for us the drive took off and we were heading back to town. MAKE SURE YOU ARE CLEAR ABOUT PRICES BEFORE GETTING ON A CAMEL. That is a good message for any purchase in Morocco, make sure you and they know what you want and how much you are paying for it so you don’t have to deal with situations like that later…not fun! Afterward I didn’t know if I should feel bad for walking away, or good for standing my ground about the negotiation. I resolved that the compromise was decent and there was nothing more to do, and besides, I had ridden a camel in Morocco, how often does that happen??!?!!!

The rest of the day we spent wandering around the city. I spent a short time on Cody´s shoulders making us the next tallest thing in Morocco after the Minaret, getting lost for and hour on the way back to the Place and eating for the last time at #55. We gathered out things after dinner and headed to the train station. In honour of Halloween we bought some ‘fun size’ Mars bars for the train ride back to Casablanca and pretended that we didn’t miss Halloween that much (what a lie!). In Casablanca we managed to slyly stuff 5 people into a room for 3 (yes, college students are mischievous/cheap like that) for our last night in Africa!

Tuesday morning we took the short train back to the airport for our (much more on time) flight back to Madrid. Once in Madrid, we had 30 minutes to get off the plane, get our bags, get through customs, and get to the bus station…and we made it! Thank God, because the next bus wouldn’t have gotten us back to Córdoba until 1am and we were all tired of travelling.

Morocco had tons of things to see and try, experience and enjoy! It’s a trip I had wanted to take for a long time, and Im so glad I took the chance to get to Northern Africa, especially when it was so accessible….although, I wasn’t too happy with myself the week following.

Morocco remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Eiiwww sick! remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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If that picture wasn’t the most clichéd description of fall, then I don’t know what is, but in all honesty, that is what País Vasco (Basque Country) of Spain looks like. This weekend I hopped a bus to Málaga, stayed for one night in the cute little coastal town in southern Andalucía before catching my plane bright and early the next morning (yeah, that’s right, I was up at 4am on the first day of my weekend). But, the nice thing about early morning flights is they give you the rest of the day at your final destination. So, I arrived in Bilbao, where I met Kiki (the same friend from home that I have gotten to see for the last 3 weekends...my life rocks!!), and her roommate Clancey, and we hopped on a bus to destination #1 in País Vasco: San Sebastian. The Basque call it Donostía, but during Franco´s Fascist regime, he refused to let the Basque differentiate themselves from the rest of Spain, and was called San Sebastian instead.

When you arrive in Donstía, you first drive through the beautiful green mountains and rolling hillsides, very Celtic. Then past some small herds of sheep and goats, very ‘Heidi’, before popping out into the small (170,000 people) town just south of the French border on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The population here quadruples in the summer months, but we thoroughly enjoyed missing the crowds and took the town at a leisurely pace. Our pension (different from a hostal in that hostals are usually entire buidings and are run by a company, pensions are people renting out rooms on a floor that they own…but not as sketchy as they sound) was great. It was located right in the heart of the old town, Parte Vieja, in the middle of all the shopping, tapas bars, old stone Baroque cathedral, Bahía de la Concha, and River Urumea. Prime locale!

We set our stuff down and headed out to explore, heading towards the famous beaches of the Bahía de la Concha (Bay of the Shell). ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS are the two words best describing San Sebastian. If you like the beach this is the place for you. If you like the mountains, likewise. If you have a hankering for the small town feel, get lost in old town, or cross the river and you can be in the ‘big city’ with the Kursaal Conference Center, or fit right into Basque life while picking up your groceries and flowers at the small market in the barrio Gros (Gros neighbourhood). Anyway, our walk took us around the horseshoe shaped bay to the Palacio Miramar, whose green lawns you can see from across the bay. As we are accustomed to the tradition of siesta here in Spain, we headed back for a little R&R when the shops closed up for siesta.

When dinner time rolls around in Basque Country, the chefs roll up their sleeves and go to town. In País Vasco, tapas is done differently, and I like it. It has all the appeal of a buffet, getting to see what your food looks like before eating it and only taking exactly what you want in the exact amount you want it. The camarero (bartender/waiter) hands you a large plate and you stroll down the bar where all the tapas are laid out. Montaditos and bocadillos (small sandwiches) with all sorts of seafood and veggies, Spanish tortilla, crab cakes on toast, pastry tarts filled with seafood salad, ham, of course, and more! We each grabbed a plate and took a few to try. I am a huge fan of artichoke hearts Spanish style…just finely chop up lots of onion and red and green pepper and with a little olive oil dump it all on top of skewered artichoke hearts..enjoy! We felt the need to walk off our dinner passing by plenty of other tapas bars laid out the same way. The people just spill into the streets, mostly standing and just talking, sipping, and munching on yummy foods.

We headed back towards the bay to see it all lit up and, oh wow, it was still gorgeous! I love this part of Spain, my motivation to leave just kept declining as the weekend went on too! After our small walk we had cleared out enough room in our tummies for some ice cream. We found the best ice cream place in all of Spain on the main road, and after many many many minutes of indecisiveness, I picked Avellana (hazelnut) and Leche Merengada (the ice cream version of leche canela limon) to finish off the night!

Saturday morning we woke up to the hussle and bustle of small town mornings. From out our window we could see all the little old ladies pulling behind them their little carts, soon to be full of yummy things from the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker (well, not really, but people do buy their meat at one store, their veggies at another, and their bread at yet another…gotta love the Spanish inefficiency, especially in small towns). We headed out for the day to Monte Igueldo, peak on the far side of the bay from us. We walked along the ‘boardwalk’ again, and decided, after seeing a ridiculous amount of runners, that if you are under 45 and living in San Sebastian, you have to run!!! And I don’t mean brisk walk or light jog, you better run!

We got to Monte Igueldo and took the funicular (a train on tracks at 45ª) to the top to see the most gorgeous views of the city. From the bay to the mountains far beyond the city, and 300ª around, San Sebastian was, again, absolutely beautiful. We decided to walk back down and back towards the Parte Vieja for lunch. On the way we passed the 3 types of people that come/live in San Sebastian. Type 1: 65 and older adorable couples with matching outfits (including swimsuits and caps) that happily and leisurely enjoy life and everything in it (Although, Grandma and Grandpa, these guys dont have anything on you…you guys are way cuter, and much younger of course!) Type 2: Shout out to all the young families, this is where you should be in the first years of your child/children´s lives. As long as you dress them all in matching outfits and take them to the park for hours on end, you can pass for Basque. Type 3: the hopelessly romantic couples who are of course all over each other, but not in the gross, over-obsessive way they are in the rest of Spain, its much cuter because everyone looks like they stepped out of the pages of a J.CREW catalogue.

So, now that we have established that we couldn’t stand out anymore, we took shelter under an umbrella at a table in the plaza for some bocadillos. The day got more exciting from there. The table next to us had finished eating and paid the tab, leaving it on the table, as is customary here. As soon as they had walked away, this shady guy walks by and grabs the money and runs off, out of the plaza and around the corner. The waiter runs after him but came back empty handed. We witnessed a Spanish robbery! Not that Im proud of it, but definitely a new experience. When we finished we took our tab up to the bar to pay and headed out to walk around. After exhausting the streets in the Gros, and watching every last shop close up for siesta we went back to the pension, climbed up the 2 stories (in Spain that means anywhere from 2 to 5 flights of stairs) just in time to escape the rain. The rest of the night was a relaxing combination of more eating, relaxing, ice cream (more eating), and people watching.

The next day we headed back to Bilbao. We hopped the bus and arrived in Bilbao and headed to the Guggenheim museum (also in Italy and New York). The Architecture of the building is the real attraction. The exhibits are rotating but the building, made of limestone covered in titanium tiles is the real attraction. Designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 1997 the building looks like a silver version of the Sydney Opera House that sort of reorganized itself so that all the arches are pointing in different directions. Gehry said he was inspired by carp, a fish from his childhood memories, and the river and fountains that surround the museum support this theme. We walked around, taking it in from all aspects before doing the classic tourist move, skipped the museum exhibits and shot straight to the gift shop for postcards of this modern, 21st century, piece of art!

The rest of the day consisted of walking around the city including its old town, called Casca Vieja, but by 2pm the crowds had died out and the ‘Sunday’ thing set in. There was nothing to do. We spent the day wandering aimlessly and sitting in the park. People watching was the extent of our activity for the rest of the day until I walked Kiki and Clancey back to the bus station! After a great weekend it was time for them to head back to Salamanca. My flight didn’t leave until the next morning, so after sending them off I headed back towards my hostal. As it got dark, the crowds came out again. I passed by a gorgeous church and decided to stop inside to find mass just about to begin. The church itself was gorgeous, elaborately decorated in pinks, blues, and golds with a lively congregation and an amazing trio of singers. Even more surprising was how much I understood what was being said. Following the mass is simple, same mass I have been to for the last 20 years of my life, but knowing what the readings said, and what the homily was about was really rewarding, (a) because mass just makes you feel good, and (b) because my Spanish has come that far!!

Afterward, feeling pretty good about myself, I strolled the lively streets of Bilbao before calling it a night. Monday morning was a different story. The place was all hustle and bustle with people off to work and wherever else Spaniards go during the day! I made my way through the crowds and caught my bus to the airport to head back to Córdoba. Not, that this whole experience isnt one big vacation, because for the most part it feels like that, but this weekend was especially relaxing, and i feel like i got a real vacation.

País Vasco.... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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…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!

Córdoba (again): remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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My own version of "Sex and the City"... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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When I first heard about Granada, I knew little of the city and its fame! In Granada, as anyone there will proudly brag/tell you about “it has the second most visited tourist site in all of Europe, second only to the Eiffle Tower.” So, what is this magnificent site that they speak of, well, let me build up the suspense a little more (and no scrolling down to see what it is, cheater!). It was the last Moorish (Muslim) stronghold in Europe and taken over by the Christians during the Reconquista in 1492, and used as their palace…blah blah blah…more boring history….if you care that much check out the pictures (and order your tickets ahead of time…yes, its that popular at www.alhambratickets.com). This famous place is called the Alhambra. Same name as the water company with obnoxious green trucks and cool blue sparkly sequins on the back. Same name as the (not absolutely horrible) light beer served proudly in Granada and the rest of Andalucia. But, unlike either of those, this place is something to write home about (or at least online).

The Alhambra is divided into 4 parts, all gorgeous in their own way

Part I: Carlos I/V Palace: The conquering king who took hold of the Alhambra from the Muslims (ooopppps sorry, some more history slipped in…enjoy Daddy!) had to build his own palace (of course!) And so, built by Pedro Machucha, “devotee of Michaelangelo and Rafael” (courtesy of Rick Steve´s: Spain) this Spanish palace was entirely Roman in design. A circle in a square, this palace was entirely financed by the defeated Muslims (who were stoked about the idea), and was never finished because the next king wanted his own palace elsewhere…can we say ´Greedy??´ Anyway, its pretty cool to see a miniature collosium in a Spanish castle.

Part II: Alcazaba Fort, the actual “Alhambra” or “Red Castle” is the oldest part and also most ruined, where the Moorish King, Boabdil´s army resided. The tower at one end is climb-able and has the most gorgeous view of the city of Granada and the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountain range (one of the few places to ski in Spanish winters).

Part III: Palacios Nazarios. The “Jewel of the Alhambra” (thank you Rick) is the Moorish royal palace. This part of the Alhambra shares the same intricate carved walls as the Mezquita and Medina Azahara. Also housing what they call “stalactite” ceilings which are stucco 3D tessellations sculpted into the arched techos (ceilings), ceramic tile walls, and tons of windows to let in light. The place used to be lavishly painted in bright colors signifying different things according to the Koran, red (blood), blue (heaven), green (oasis), and gold (wealth), and has the same Arabic carving around all of the walls with the translation saying something like “Allah is the winner.” Also in this section is the Court of Lions named for the circular fountain supported by 12 lions. The fountain Christians took it apart to see how it worked, and it hasn’t worked since. Also in here is the Washington Irving room. Named after the US embassador to Spain in 1829 who lived in the Alhambra and wrote “Tales of the Alhambra.”

Part IV: Generalife (Henn-err-all-ee-fey) Gardens. Mom, this part is for you! It is supposedly the closest thing (or was) on earth to the Koran´s description of Heaven. Ponds, hedges, flowers, paths, trees, views of the Alhambra and city…you could stay all day and not get tired of looking at the place.

Ok…sorry for the history lesson, but Granada was basically the visual for all the history I have been learning in class here.

Next we went to lunch where I had the best Paella I have had so far here. Lots of saffron (and the bright orange powder they use to actually make it that bright), plenty of veggies and meat (pork and seafood) to really just finish the morning and afternoon off right!

No one in the program went back on the bus to Córdoba, we all decide to stay and make a weekend trip out of Granada, so we headed to our hostal up in the hillside neighbourhood across from the hill the Alhambra caps. After winding our way through yet more cobblestobe (the worst I have seen yet: heels that night were a definite NO!) and carefully navigating between dog dropping we arrived at our completely “chill” hostal. Lots of hammocks, a “chill out room” (actual name listed on brochure) and good location to the other things to see. We didn’t stay long and headed back out, through the Alcaiceria, originally the Arab silk market, still a seda (silk) and jewellery market punctuted by tetarías (Arabian tea houses), and very much a tourist hot spot. It was still pretty, very colourful, and made me want to go to Morocco that much more!

We popped out into the Bib-Rambla square filled with coffee shops, florist kiosks, formerly a place of public executions.

After that we had had enough sight seeing for the day and headed out for some tapas for dinner. Granada is an extra special place for tapas because EVERY tapas bar serves free tapas with every drink you order. Finding good food is not a problem, but finding a table is! We (Marissa, Cody, Chris, Jessica, Jen and I) sat down and didn’t leave until we had had enough (cigarette smoke that is, you can almost never have too many tapas). Then, because its kinda what you do in Spain, we moved to the next relaxing place to eat and/or drink something. This time it was desert, then out on the town.

Granda is a city of more than 60,000 students (the city is only 300,000 people), and thus the going out scene leaves little to be desired. We strolled the streets, stopped in a few bars including one called the “Rock bar” (which played an unimpressive selection of rock music). Not in the mood for the crazy party scene, we instead decide to take a look at the Alhambra lit up at night, which looks entirely different.

We hike our way up through the hillside neighbourhood until we found a great little ledge and vista of the fairy tale castle all lit up! Marissa, Cody, Phillip (who we met up with) and myself talked until we couldn’t feel our toes (apparently cities near the mountains get cold at night, go figure!). We headed back to the hostel and called it a night (or a morning) because even our less-than-crazy night didn’t get us back until 2:30am.

Saturday morning we got up to the sweet smell of Churros which the owner of the hostel had bought for us…(he was fun to talk to cause his Madrileño accent allowed us to actually understand what he was saying, Andalucians speak horrible Spanish, ´S´s don’t actually exist in Andalucían Spanish). We headed off to the only other site I felt I could not leave Granada without seeing, La Capilla Real (the Royal Chapel). Built in only 15 year (ridiculously short for that era) it used up ¼ of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel´s wealth to build. Lucky for them,they got their money´s worth because this chapel, is where they, their daughter Jauna “La Loca” and son-in-law Felipe “El Hermoso” are all entombed under a marble Renaissance style carved sculpture of themselves. The chapel itself isn’t anything fabulous, but these are the Reyes Catolicos, and the reason that the Spanish empire was so big (and a huge part of my history class) and so it was pretty cool to see.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sampling tea at the As-Sinat tea house. My favourite is the Almendra (almond) tea with a little bit of milk and sugar, but the tea called “El Pais que no Existen” (the country that doesn’t exist) gave it a run for its money. After that Marissa and I were off, back to Córdoba to spend at least one weekend day at ´home´. It seems like I am never here, although I am not really complaining, its not like im doing nothing on my weekends.

Kiki is coming this week!!!!! And I have to open up my books/notes cause I have some tests coming up, but other than that there is just more travelling and Spanish-learning on the agenda for me. Hope things are going well at home(s). Miss you all and talk to you soon!

(P.S. sorry about the British spelling of everything, I kinda like it,but autocorrect on computers is to British English, so your favourite colour is that of your travelling neighbour´s jewellery was typed with normal letters and turned out like that!)

Granada remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sunday morning i woke up much too early to the sound of my ever-so.obnoxious alarm clock (who decided that a sequnece of 3 screaming beeps, much like the fire drills at school, was an acceptable wake up call anyway??? They and I need to have a little heart to heart). Despite my reluctance wake up, as soon as I realized why the alarm was going off, I jumped my tired little tush outta bed and got ready. Not only was I going to go to Madrid to see a Real Madrid fútbol (soccer) game, but I was going to get to see Kiki, one of my future roommates, teammates, and friend!!! After a solid week of homesickness, I was ready to see a friend!

So, onto the train I went at 8am on sunday morning and 2 hours later I was standing in the Madrid station and staring at the old station, bombed in March of 2003 by terroriest, and since then made into a sort of tropical garden and cafe as a memorial. While gazing, half in wonder at what exactly I was looking at, and half ridiculously excited to see Kiks, she popped up right in front of me. And like giddy school girls who just got a note from the cute guy in the back row we screamed with excitement and hugged....yeah, i kno, really mature...but hey, i miss my fam and friends!

From there, it was off to the stadium to knab some tickets for that nights game against Mallorca. Before heading to the Museo del Prado, one of Spain`s most famous art museums, and home to the works of Goya, Velasquez, a Rembrant, Rubens, Vecellio, and various other Italian, French and Spanish artists.

I am not a musuem person (if you can typify people as museum or non-museum people), let alone an art museum person, but considering I am in a country with a history in art almost as rich as Italy, it wouldnt be right to pass up the opportunity to see (what is essentially) culture on canvas. The work in the Prado are very representative of the significant events in Spain´s history, and the moments of pride in thier culture. Since it would take hours to describe (and most likely 16 cups of coffee for both of us) I will save you the play by play and run through my fav artist at the Prado: Fransico de Goya. Goya´s specialty is eyes and faces. He has painted many portraits, all of which share the same intense, clear, large and staring eyes. The eyes of all his subjects have this sort of piercing, almost enchanting feel, and you really do just have to (excuse the cliché) stare into their eyes. While his eyes are not so realistic, almost a little fairy tale or something, the way he captures bodies is much more realistic. He uses color very well to accentuate every part of the body he paints. Even the series of works known as the “Pintas Negras” (dark, grotesque, and graphic paintings), uses paint to almost illumintate the bodies. As a souvenir of my positive experience at the Prado (and yes, I would probably go back), I bought a slide of my favorite work by Goya, Cristo Crucificado, also the work that best exemplifies Goya´s almost romantic interpretation Christ on the Cross. Jesus´ body is posed, almost femininely, and it is the most innocent and peaceful depiction of Jesus. Its the most beautiful of all the crucifictions I have seen, and being in Spain, that’s saying a lot.
After the Prado we walked up to Retiro Park, famous for all the staues and sculptures littering the Central Park-like atmosphere. You can rent row boats on the pond, walk your dog, sit on the edge of a fountain, munch on some frutos secos (snacks), chat with your friends, take pictures, or just people watch (my visit was a combination of the later 5). Kiki, her friend Will, and I soaked up a beautiful day in Madrid on that bench. As much as I hate to let summer go, all the great weather, days on the beach, relaxation, friends with similarly vacant agendas, its days like Sunday that make me welcome the fall. A little brisk, slightly windy, trees rustling, people dog walking, colors changing...i love summer for all it means but autumn really is the most beautiful. Sitting in the park made me change my mind about Madrid. After my first visit to Madrid, I didnt really like the city. It is huge, dirty in parts (like most big cities), a little too crowded at times and slightly overwhelming. But on Sunday, when we leisurly made our way around, I absolutley loved it. Maybe it was that I loved the weather, seeing a friend, and learning to appreciate art and a new artist´s work, or maybe the city really was different. Who knows, but it was a day well spent.

THE GAME: As if the day wasnt good enough, we still had more things to do....the Real Madrid game. Real Madrid (the most famous of the regional teams in Spain, notorious for their star mid-fielder David Beckham, thier flashy all white home uniforms, and thier crazy fans), was not to be missed. Although their opponent, Mallorca, was no major competition (Real won 4-0) we got into the spirit purchasing the notorious “fútbol scarves” (you will know what Im talking about when you see it) uncapped our water bottles (mandatory as you walk in so that if the fans get rowdy and start to throw them they will be empty, or nearly empty that is), pulled out the digital cameras and climbed up, up, up to our nose-bleed, but still great seats. Having never been to a pro football game in the states (i know, real american of me, huh?) i cant actually compare the feel of it. But the sheer mass of people, crazy and loyal fans sporting thier teams´ colors and going crazy for goals, or for fouls was fabulous!!!!!!!!! Unfortunatly, 90 minutes later, the game was over (that was pretty much the only time i wished for ´football´ minutes) and we were hurded out of the stadium.

NIGHT LIFE...even on sunday. Our sunday night out on the town left nothing to be desired out of our trip to Madrid (except maybe some sleep). Our hostel that night was hosting a night out on the town for all the guests and we headed out with an obnoxious group of Austrian soccer players (too old to be staying in the hostel) and some other travellers from all over. 7 hours, 5 versions of “Tengo mi Camisa Negra”, two salsa dancing partners, and almost too much fun later, i was back at the hostel, showering, packing and heading back to the train station (note that its now 6am on monday morning) to catch my train to Córdoba. I got on and slept for the first time in 24 hours, setting my alarm to be sure I woke up at my stop. At 9:15am I rushed off the train, hailed a cab to school and at 9:30am was in my seat, with the rest of the (not so tired) students in my program. Needless to say, a siesta that day was nothing less than mandatory!

Madrid was exactly what I needed. I miss you guys so much...I think Kiki might be coming to Córdoba soon, which will, im sure bring more good times, but until then, i pretty sure i still have some sleep to catch up on.

Back to Madrid...... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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After class, I decided to play tourist in Córdoba…you sometimes forget to do all the tourist stuff in your own town cause you either forget its there, or just assume it will always be there and you could technically go whenever so it gets put off. Since, I cant exactly say that either of those are true for me, I didn’t really have any reason not too enjoy the rest of the morning visiting the Sinagoga (synagogue) and Alcázar (castle and gardens). Lucky for me, lots of sights in Córdoba are free to the public on Fridays, which also meant battling the hoards of tourists that visit Córdoba. Although to us here, Córdoba seems pretty remote and far away from the rest of Europe, that distance doesn’t seem to divert the masses that arrive every weekend.

SYNAGOGA: The synagogue is the old synagogue in the Judería that is not in use anymore, if fact there is no active synagogue in Córdoba at all. It is one rectangular room with some ornate designs carved into the walls and around the few windows near the ceiling that provide the only light in the room. Its disappointingly not much to look at, and although there was a significant Jewish population in Cordoba over 1000 years ago, their culture and religion has been pushed aside for the richer and more grandiose Christian and Islamic influences.

ALCÁZAR: was actually the 3rd site on my list, but the museum about the history of bullfights was closed for `obras´ (renovations) and I found my way out of the labyrinth of streets, and popped out just north of the river and west of the Mezquita at Alcázar. The Alcázar de los Reyes Cátolicos, is the castle Isabel and Ferdinand built for themselves in Córdoba (although they never lived there together). The castle itself is only slightly imposing with two towers, which you can walk up, around and between. The more impressive part of the castle is found in the chapel where there are huge mosaics (not part of the original castle) that have been placed there and cover almost the entire wall of the Chapel. The sheer mass of a huge mosaic of black,white, and red tiles is pretty impressive. Still, the best part of the day was yet to come. I headed out to the courtyard and gardens and was greeted first by the large marble baths surrounded by flowers and flowing water (the Arabic influence) before walking past a roman column (remnants from some of the first developers of the area) into the gardens of los Reyes. Essentially a miniature version of the gardens at the Palace of Versaille, the ponds, flowers, trees, statues, and paths extend out from the terrace behind the castle. Mom, you would have loved this! It was so nice to see so many flowers in Cordoba, which are few and far between during the hot summer months. After taking a few pictures, establishing myself yet again as a tourist, I reluctantly left the gardens to browse the crowded streets before heading back for lunch.

FRIDAY NIGHT: This was the first night I would have considered myself to have acted like a true Spaniard. And by that I mean staying out until 6am. We headed to the Botellón en Jardín Victoria, the long narrow park running up the middle of the main drag in the Jardín district (where I live). Its here that I got to hang out with my American friends, but also meet more Spaniards and speak in Spanish....slowly but surely i WILL get better!!! (Si se puede, Si se puede: I think I can, I think I can!). After that, the discoteca was calling our name, so Cody and Chris and I, headed to Cortuva, one of the clubs in Córdoba. We danced the night away and before I knew it, the numbers were dwindling, exhaustion set it, and I was ready to go home!

SATURDAY: wasnt much of a day actually due to the fact that I slept all of the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon away before lounging around for the rest of the day....a complete lack of productivity: I love weekends!

SUNDAY: Sunday was great, and Ill tell you all about it....in the next entry!

Off to (what WOULD be) a great weekend....... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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On Monday we drove up the coast from Lagos north towards Lisbon, or Lisboa as it is called here. The drive up let us pass through the all types of terrain, for example. Imagine that you are heading out towards Bodega Bay and winding you way through the hills, curves, sand and rocks that punctuate the coastline. Then all of a sudden the rocks turn into the "tundra" setting and some trees start to show up. Next, you look out the window and now you are basically heading south on the 5 towards San Luis Obispo past the huge wind turbines on the hills. Then the winding road pops you into a little town, much like the the one just before Doran beach where Alfred Hitchcock filmed the birds. Upon exiting the town (where you will see a white sign with black letters with the name of the town in it and a huge red slash through it denoting you are now leaving the town), you get back on the roads and wind through some more hills with the beach and cliffs on one side and the hills with really nice houses on the other (aka PCH in Malibu) and before you know it, actually about 297km later, you are crossing one of the most beautiful suspension bridges and battling traffic down the main drag in Lisboa, Portugal, the country´s capital.

Most of our sightseeing was done from the car while trying to find the hostels in the guidebook. We passed by no less than 10 different statues of all the Portugese explorers and their respective plazas and parks before parking under the Plaza de Don Pedro(I or II) and booking a room at one of the (slightly shady, but pretty standard) cheap, big city hostels.

Because we had to leave early the next day we used the rest of the afternoon to walk around and made it to the Castelo do Sao Jorge (The Castle of Saint George) where we got to walk around inside, and up around the edge of the castle and in the towers. The views of Lisbon from the castle were amazing, as are the pictures that my semi-functioning camera allowed me to take. The experience in the castle was made complete by the guitarrist playing in the courtyard providing a kind of antique and relaxing Portugese soundtrack to the visit.

We headed back towards our hostel passing by some plazas and statues along the waterfront of the Tejo River and back up another hill to try to figure out what the gothic arches above the buildings were. They turned out to be the remnants of a destroyed roof of the cathedral the now houses the Architecture Museum of Lisboa, but we were too late and didnt get a chance to go inside.

Porto, the famous wine of Portugal and Spain seemed to be calling our name as we walked by a bodega (wine shop) with a free tasting sign in front. Not knowing much about wine as is, Porto was a much bigger mystery. We sampled a White, Ruby, Tawny, Vintage 2000, and a more expensive 1998 Vintage porto (in that order).

PORTO: the deal with porto is that it is a sweet wine (used as an aperative if white and a dessert wine as a red) and is between 19-22% alcohol, made that way by the combination of brandy with the special grapes growm all over, but most famously in the northeastern part of Portugal. The white is the only one served cold, and the others are served at room temperature. The white, ruby, and tawny are all ready to drink when shipped to the stores. They have matured first in oak oak barrels (of varying size) and then in the bottle ranging from 2-5 years depending on the type of wines. Whites usually the least, Tawny the most of the three. The dates are not printed on these bottles because the wines are usually a combination of years all put together and therefore not dated. The vintage wines are different in that they are from only one year, and age most of thier life in the bottle. There you could buy 10, 20, and 40 year vintages (for a pretty penny). The longer you wait the more brown the wine becomes, and the better it tastes. The 2000 Vintage we tried was the better of the two, and once opened has to be finished in about 2 weeks, while the 1998 vintage, of higher quality had to be finished within 2 days of opening the bottle. The experience was very educational and surprisingly yummy. I, not being one for red wines, enjoyed them all and,lucky for all of you, I bought a bottle of the 2000 Vintage to bring back...so its Porto tasting for all!!

After the cultural immersion (aka wine tasting) we stopped at the grocery store and tried to understand portugese (haha). Portugese sounds like Spanish words mingled with Russian ones, spoken with a French accent. They can pretty mucn understand anything you say in Spanish, but try to understand them and you walk away feeling pretty dumb. Hunger soon set in so we set off, after getting dolled up for our last night in Portugal, and headed off to find some traditional Portugese intertainment/food.

Walking down from the Castle along the windy cobblestone streets of the Alfama area, we had passed some restaurants which advertised Fado performances that night. Fado is a typical Portugese style of singing, usually to a guitar or two. The music is very somber (def not cheesy pop song somber) but kind sorrowful and very passionate, at least for the singer. We enjoyed our dinner, sorry no linguisa (typical Portugese sausage) to the beautiful sounds (and untranslatable lyrics...sorry ill work on Portugese next) of the music in a restaurant of 6 (very intimate) tables, in what appeared to be a bathroom. It was about that big with floor to ceiling tiles and everything. Needless to say it was memorable.

Another successful trip through another country on my list. I definitely did not get to see enough of Lisboa and could really spend another weekend seeing the sights, and probably another shopping at the amazing stores and eating yummy food, but I guess that will have to wait.

"Port"ugal again... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our first stop was just over the border of Portugal into the Algarve region in a city called Faro. It is the biggest and capital city of the region although we managed to not stray too far from the waters edge. When we arrived, we settled into our (5€/night) hostal, and wandered around the Cidade Vehla (portugese for old city). We passes the famous Arco de Vila, the entrance to the old city, and enjoyed the rest of the evening on the patio people watching.

The next day we headed out toward Lagos, but not before stopping for some tasty Portuguese pasteries (they have those down pat!) and taking a look at the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) inside the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo (Church of our lady Carmen). The chapel was one of the most unique and creepy things i have ever seen in my life. It is made of bones and more than 1245 skulls of monks burried in the church´s former cemetary. Creepy, yes, and reminicent of the scenery inside the pirates of the caribbean ride at Disneyland, skulls and bones and all, but really neat at the same time.

Saturday Sept 24: On to Lagos. Just a few hours away was the gorgeous town of Lagos. One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, Lagos is a windy city almost to the very southwestern tip of Portugal. While the tourbooks rant and rave about the crazy party scene, we kept a lower profile, renting an apartment and spending the 2 days there on the Meia Praia and Praia de Pinhao the two amazing beaches. The first is like most southern cali beaches, a longs stretch of sand but littered with tons of shells, really fine sand and much clearer water. The second was one of my favorite beaches in all the world. Its the trademark of the Algarve region with its cliffs, caves, and crazy rock formations littering the coast. You can see all the layers, created over time, which make the already brightly colored rocks that much prettier. We spent our second day lounging on the beach there. Swimming out, in, and around the cliffs, slithering through the small passages created between the rocks and the sand, and trying not to slice skin while climbing over the jagged rocks.

As the sun went down, we called it a day, and after brushing the more course sand off, said goodbye to the crystal clear (and surprisingly cold) water and headed back up to our apt.

Other adventures in Lagos included a night out to dinner where we tasted the local cuising, seafood, and wine and this small restaurant in town. I also made everyone stop at this little bar for drinks simply because the tv in the background was showing rugby!!! How i miss rugby, and since this was the closest I had been in a long time, I couldnt pass it up. Our last night in Lagos, we made dinner. I finally got some chicken (Carmen doesnt like it so we dont really eat too much of it), and to actually cook!!! (another thing i dont get to do ofter here).

Woke up early on Monday to head to Lisbon...(oops off to class, check the next entry for Lisbon details)

Portugal (Sept 23-26) remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Fridays here are rarely for class, they are for excursions, projects, the occasional exam or a day off. This last friday (Sept 23) was the 2nd of our excursions, and we didnt even leave Córdoba. We walked through the Puerta de Almodovar which was the entrance into the center of the Caliph´s city before he built himself a new palace at Medina Azahara.

We wandered through the old cobblestone streets lined on either side by old stucco buildings forming a literal labyrinth through an area of Córdoba just north of the Guadalquivir river. Winding through the narrow streets, our guide, Antonio, also our history teacher, led us through the archway into the Patio de los Naranjos (orange patio) in the middle of the Mezquita (pictures at http://images.google.es/images?q=cordoba+mezquita&hl=es&btnG=B%C3%BAsqueda+en+Google).

The Patio is enclosed on all sides by the walls of the Mezquita. On one side is the Mezquita itself, and the other the Torre do Campañas (bell tower). The patio is raised in the middle and has tons of orange trees planted between all the small channels that the muslims used to collect water (they had a huge obsession with water). They neither the orange trees or the patios cobblestones are part of the origninal 10th century architecture, although the mezquita and bell tower are. The gorgeous patio, with a fountain in the middle and all the ambiance of a garden in bloom was formerly the place used for worship when the muslims came to the mezquita for services.

Next we headed into the mezquita. Built in 784 A.D. it is the only mezquita left intact in Spain. Inside the mosque, there are 850 granite and marble columns supporting hundreds of striped arches made of rock and brick that create the red and white striped look. At one end is the prayer niche, Mihrab, covered in inscriptions in Kufic of the 99 names of Allah. The Capilla Villaviciosa lies in the same end and is where the Calipha (muslim king) worshipped, apart from the rest of the Muslim community. The muslim architecture, art, inscriptions and influence still remain in the former mosque, although during the Crusades, in 1236, Córdoba was conquered by the christians and a cathedral was build directly in the middle of the mosque. As you walk through the muslim mosque, you are all of a sudden thrown into the Cathedral which has all the same features as any other medieval church in europe including the ornate metalwork, carvings, and statues. On sunday mornings the sacerdotes (priest) even use the coro (choir dome) to sing.

The place is absolutely amazing. The architecture is different than anything else I have ever seen, and although coming to Córdoba i knew that there was influence from many different religions who had occupied the area, the Mezquita is the proof the the coexistence of the religions in the city.

After gauking at the beauty like a regular tourist or "giddies" as we foreigners are called here, we left the Mezquita and crossed one of the tiny streets to a place called Bar Santos, famous for its Spanish tortilla. Different from mexican tortillas, Spanish ones are made of egg and potato and are thicker. This one is so thick that they serve it in slices, like a pie. Santos lived up to its reputation, and I would call friday a successful (and educational) day in the life of Córdoba.

After that, it was back home for me to pack, because in a few short hours, I would be on the road to Portugal!!

La Mezquita remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The week started like any other one at school, I had spent the weekend here and headed back to school on Monday. School is starting to pick up pace a little in terms of the amount of material they shove into one day, but I also feel my understanding is getting better, even through the thick Andalus (pronounced An-dah-loo here) accent.

My comprehension and speaking will get even better now that my Intercambia is back in town. Intercambios are people studying English her in Spain that get set up with American students here and both can work on the language they are studying. My intercambia´s name is Carmen, actually Maria de Carmen or Mayca for short.

On Wednesday Mayca and I 'dimos un paseo' (took a walk) around the streets of the Jardín (the area where I live) and into el Centro (the downtown of Córdoba). We got to Plaza de las Tendillas and headed to an heladería (ice cream shop) where i finally figure out what the hell 'Túrron' ice cream is: Nougat flavor, and everywhere in Spain, and not my favorite. I think ill stick to Coco (coconut), Pistachio, or Merengada, which is the ice cream version of leche canela limón.

KEEPING BUSY: Other activities keeping me busy include: Shopping (surprise, surprise), tasting new foods (lots of seafood and other fried treats...you wont ever recognize me when i get back. Just look for the fat one wearing cute spainsh clothes in the airport. And by spanish clothes i mean lots of crazy mis-matched prints and a color we now call Córdoba orange). Tuesday we got a group of people, along with Marissa´s (very persistent) intercambio, Rafa, and a couple of the other students´"siblings" to come play a pick up game on one of the outdoor courts here. Although there are a few grass "pistas" (fields) the majority are cement with lines and a goal frame in the ground. After a few games, its was almost dark, and time for dinner. As I was leaving I talked to one of the host-brothers who is 16 and plays rugby! He said he would talk to the coach to see if i could come out and play with them.....and i am waiting (as patiently as I can) for info...I MISS RUGBY!!! and the concept of women´s rugby hasn´t quite made it to Andalucía yet. In fact, very few sports are available to women here, and going to inquire about gym memberships definitely gets you some interesting looks when you are checking out the weight rooms.

FRIDAY: Tomorrow is an excursion to the Mezquita, the mosque constructed in the 10th century during the Muslim rule of Spain. When the Christians conquered the Muslims at the beginning of the 11th century, instead of destroying the Mezquita which was the usual habit, they left the original building and built thier church inside of it. More details after the visit.

WEEKEND PLANS: After the Mezquita, Marissa, Chris, Cody and I, after much debate and switching back and forth between destinations for our extended weekend, we decided to screw the (expensive and quasi inefficient) public transportation, and rent a car to drive to PORTUGAL. The fun part about that is we can decide where exactly we want to go when we see it instead of being in just one or 2 places.

I think thats all for now. For all you inquiring about any spanish romances, none to report...yet. There are a couple hotties in the program, which gives me something to stare at while in class when i forget to pay attention. But, since half of the group that I usually hang out with is made up of guys, which here generally means "novios" (boyfriends), my game is kinda shot. Thus, tonight is girls-night-out. Marissa and I are heading out to take in the Spanish scene "soltera" (unattached). Basically, its our excuse to convince spanish guys that American women are super fun and really fun to hang out with, even if they do slaughter the language a bit.

¡Hasta Luego, ten un buen fin de semana!

New things.... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The entire fortress was built from the rocks from the surrounding Sierra mountains for the exception of the marble and ivory columns that were imported from the middle east. The walls are decorated elaborately with carvings, although none of animals or humans because there were not allowed to be depicted in art. The carvings in the stone on the walls consists mostly of geometric shapes and plants, such as the tree of life. The walls surrounding the 2nd of the 3 levels of the original Medina, were military barriers and built at 90º angles as to more easily defend. The pools around the palace were also interesting, and when I asked why so many reflecting pools I was told that the Muslim community loved the sound of water, which was scarce in their native country.

The Medina was an intersting place, it was hard to imagine it as the citadel of the once capital of an empire extending over 3 continents. Next week is the Mezquita, the "cathedral" for Muslims here in Córdoba.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Out on the town was the name of the game and the fab 5 (not named by me) aka Chris, Cody, Marissa, Jessica and I met up at Plaza de las Tendiallas (i have no idea what that means) where we broke out sippee cups and hung out with some Spaniards, learning new and useful words (like ronronrear=to purr) before heading to a bar/club for a little late night/early morning dancing. After a couple hours of Spanish dance music (not as bad as it sounds) I was ready to call it an (early by Spanish standards) night, and headed home around 4am.

SATURDAY: a day of much needed R and R. I woke up to find both Carmenita and Diego at friends houses, so i kinda had the house to myself except for Carmen who was in and out. I spent the morning sipping my tea and reading Harry Potter in spanish (which takes about 3 times as long), before popping in Matilda (also in spanish) to take up the afternoon. Later, Marissa, Cody and Chris came over and we hung out by the pool.

SAT NIGHT: That night the 5 of us had decided to go out for a traditional Spanish dinner aka Tapas. Carmen had recommended this great place, called Salinas, by the Plaza de las Corederras which served traditional Cordobese cuisine. After a 30 minute wait we were finally seated and in a state of utter indecisiveness, let the waiter pick the dishes, wine and dessert (although we piped up for the caraf of sangria). Our meal consisted of about 8 different dishes including some of the following (*** is the highest rating I am giving any dish): Salmorejo(***) a creamy tomato paste garnished with hard boiled egg slices and pieces of ham. Spinach and Garbanzos (***) which had a little bit of a curry/mexican flavor, Fried vegatables (**), Croquetas and Croquetas de Bacalao (**) which are fried balls or cylinders of different vegetables or meats, Araña fritos (*) which is fried fish, and another type of over salted fish with some orange slices which doesnt deserve a rating. The dessert was ok (*) some pudding surrounded by a less sweet version of flan and chocolates. The wine, whose name if am forgetting was the house Tinto, the famous type for this reason, and was very good (**). It was not to dry, a little on the sweeter side, and one of the better reds I have tasted.

After dinner we walked our stuffed selves up to another plaze to meet up with Rafa (Marissa´s intercambio) and friends for a little more spanish hour before heading home.

SUNDAY: Up, out and about bright and early, Spanish time. Met up with some people to head out to the Mercadillo (a big street or flea market) in an area called Arenal by the stadium here where the river bends. The vendors mostly sell clothes and shoes and they all pretty much look the same. Somehow I managed to escape with only a few additions to my Euro-wardrobe which now includes pleather yellow stilletto boots, white sunglasses (of the obnoxiously large type) and long string of beads, which is pretty much a necessity here. After walking the market we headed back home walking along the other side of the river, and catching a great view of the Mesquita and ribera (waterfront) of Córdoba.

Im glad i stayed in Córdoba this weekend, there isnt always a lot going on but its nice to get to see the city in its normal routine. Things are starting to cool down weather wise, and the holidays are almost over which means that businesses will be open more, all the schools will start, and I will be able to get a picture of what Córdoba is like for most people, most of the time.

Enjoying my city remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The professors here are very helpful, not only in class, but they keep us posted on the goings on in Córdoba and the nearby cities, as does our program coordinators. When I first got here things seemed really disorganized but as things get going I am realizing that its just a matter of finding what you need (and going to get them in the few hours the places are open).

The weather is still warm here, but the mornings are brisk and there is a nice wind that cools us off in the mornings and late nights.

Other than that I have just been walking around a bunch, SPAIN WALKS EVERYWHERE! and learning my way around the city while navigating through the Judería (the old Jewish neighborhood) whose streets are as maze-like as the ones in Cádiz. Yesterday Marissa, a friend from UCSB in my program, and I went out with her interacambio, Rafa, and exhausted myself by speaking spanglish for hours (The intercambio program is something the school sets up so that Spanish students learning English can practice and vice versa for American students), i get to meet my intercambio, Carmen, later this week.

I also tried a Flamenco class on monday, but wasnt too into it and would rather play rugby or fútbol (soccer) here, so im waiting to hear back on how to do that.

Plans for this weekend are to stay in town and check out Córdoba. Thier fútbol team is horrible but i need to see a game, for the sake of seeing a game, while I am here. There are also Mercadillos (huge bazaar type markets) on Sundays here, which will give me something to do when the place is dead.

FOOD: I also have been experimenting with the food here. There is only one thing I have tried, since the tapas sampler in Madrid, that i didnt enjoy, and that was a tuna salad smothered, literally, in Mayonaise, YUCK! other than that things are really yummy: Paella (a rice dish made with meat and saffron), lots of albondigas or bolitas (little meatballs or fried meatballs), pescado (fish), gazpacho (basically Spanish V8), paté, yes paté, and its not bad when its made with real meat and not liver, and tons of pan (bread). I think my favorite so far are the postres (desserts) here. Lots of yogurt in yummy flavors like pear and coconut and really good sweet breads. My favorite so far though, is called leche canela límon which is literally milk with cinnamon and lemon. I know it sounds nasty but the lemon is very faint and it is a really yummy drink. They make it as a batido (milkshake) too and you can choose what flavor of ice cream to put into it!

Well thats all for now, thanks for all the messages, i love hearing your voices. Happy Birthday to Steph (yeah for 21!!) and Nicole W!! I miss you all, talk to you soon!

Life in Córdoba remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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....ok, back again...

so the beaches were gorgeous, but heed warning, just because sand looks comfortable doesnt mean it is! On our first night there, we scoured the entire town looking for a place, ANY place to stay. We looked at hostels, pensions, hotels, apartments and asked other travelers on the street and the answer was always the same: COMPLETA (full). So, that left us with three options (a)going home: I think not! (b) staying out all night: definitely possible, and (c) sleeping on the beach. We (being me and 5 others from my program) opted for a combo b/c. We hit up the local heladería y cervezería (ice cream shop/cafe/bar) for, well, ice cream and drinks, and then people watched as the night kicked off and the clubwear came out and the boteón began. A boteón is when the Spaniards all gather in a plaza with the drinks they buy, bring, and share, and hang out. They ususally get going about 2am and when we left headed out around 4am they were still going strong. We ran into a couple of people from our program at this local bar where we stuck out like sore thumbs. A small local pub, the size of my kitchen, filled with 6 ridiculously white Americans with all thier stuff. The place closed down shortly after and we called it a night and began our walk down La Playa Victoria. 20 minutes later we ran into an old Roman wall that extended from the town center out the entire beach, setting up camp (aka some towels and blanket or two) we attempted sleep. We were pretty much unsuccessful until the sun came up, but as soon as it warmed up we were out. We woke up at 11am to the old Spanish men in Speedos laughing and staring at us.

The first item on the list was a place to stay. We found one back by the bus station in the Pension Argentina just outside of the Plaza España where we saw a (bad) flamenco show later that night. The day was made up of eating spaish tortilla (a thick pancake of potatoes and eggs...yum yum) and sunning ourselves on the Playa de las Calletas, the smaller beach in Cadiz. It is situated between the old castle wall, which sticks in the water connected to the beach by a cobblestone walkway, and fortress walls making a little alcove perfect for some frisbee (very american) or wave jumping (note that Spainish ocean water is pure salt).

We headed back to the hostel showered and hit up a popular Italian restaurant hidden between the maze-like cobblestone streets. It was hidden between this tall, european, squashed-together building and the next, just 3 meters across the walkway from its neighbor. Yummy yummy some more and then off to find ice cream, a staple, before heading to a smaller plaza to take in the night.

The next morning we ate at the Plaza de Juan de Díos, my favorite of all the plazas in Cadiz, and there are tons, before catchin the bus back. Cadiz is a beautiful city combining all the charm of narrow, cobblestone streets littered with small balconies, window boxes, laundry hanging outside, and open doors with the relaxing atmosphere of the beach and all its comforts (or lack thereof if you are calling it home for a night), and the nightlife to keep you out late.

If you are in Andalucía and have and need a day to relax, head out to Cadiz and enjoy the beaches and some fresh seafood, pescado fritos is the local favorite!

Things to remember when traveling on Spanish buses: speaking in English makes you stand out, throwing a Spanish word or phrase in the middle gets even more attention and when the phrase is "tengo fuego en mi ano" you will get more attention that you ever wanted!

Cadiz (9 Sept - 11 Sept)... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Other than that nothing new here. Some of the people from my program and I were planning on taking a trip to Cadiz, Spain (a ancient little town on the West coast of Spain with great beaches) tonight and tomorrow cause tomorrow is a holiday here in Cordoba: Día de la Fuensanta (she is a patron saint of the Córdoba). We were rained out tho so we are going this weekend instead. My host `mom´Carmen, is from Cadiz so she has given me the run down of the place and all the best plazas to visit and times to go places.

Hope all is well on the California-front. Waves of homesickness come and go as i see things that remind me of home, or miss things that i have at home, but in general things are great and im starting to get used to life here, including the siesta!

My First Day of School remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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So off to school I went, its about a 20 minute walk or a short bus ride, but as the lady at the bus stop informed my, i had just missed the bus and didnt know how long until the next one. Punctuality isnt really a big deal here in Spain for public transportation schedules, or store hours which can be frustrating. So the walk was nice, its cool here in the mornings and warm and sunny in the afternoons here (save for today when it was/is raining). Got to school, found the classes, sat down, answered the same questions they ask on every spanish exam: how long have you studied spanish? why do you continue to study? why are you studying abroad? why in Cordoba? and the lot....then off to more placement testing with an oral examination with much of the same questions, but in addition we had to describe some art. Needless to say, enought questions was enough and i welcomed the orientation that came next. To my dissappointment was boring as all hell, and the professor, a Poli-Sci prof from UCSD was the culprit. This man was literally foaming at the mouth (you know those people that have spit at the corner of thier mouth the entire time they talk, well that was him) and proceeded to repeat himself a ridiculous number of times.

I was relieved to finally get out of there and head home for la almuerza (lunch) and my siesta, which I had filled up with plans to meet friends at el centro (the city center) and get a cell phone, which I had to figure out the plans and what i wanted entirely in Spanish (uugghh) but hey, im finally connected to the rest of the world.

After that some of the other guys in the program and I met up in the Plaza de las Tendillas at the middle of the city to hang out where it proceeded to pour, yeah, thats right, in the middle of the heat, in summer, it was pouring! So we ventured away from the city and walked around through the small cobblestone streets just wide enough for one car and three college kids jumping out of the way as it whips around the blind curve.

The streets are beautiful. The city is very old and all the old builings and churches and walls are still erect and you weave your way inbetween all of them in a maze to find your way to some plaza or outlet. Its great, and being lost was never so fun and exciting!

I am definitely ready to start school here, there is a lull in the day for siesta and im (a) not used to it yet and (b) dont like it too much cause i feel like i waste valuable daylight hours. Ill either adjust or find something to do with that time... hoping to find a gym asap, this not working out thing is killin me.

Well, school officially starts tomorrow with classes and the like, then thursday is a holiday and if the weather is nice there is talk of going to Cadiz,a gorgeous city on the western coast of Spain just south of Portugal. Back to class Friday then the weekend..yeah!!!

Getting ready.... remains copyright of the author tuffchix, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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