Córdoba- Mosques, Gardens, and Animals- OH MY!

Well, I just want to start out by recommending an incredible movie, ¨The Night Train to Lisbon." I saw it, in English, Friday night with the other girl in my apartment, Claudia, at this off-the-beaten path movie theater here in Sevilla. The main character is played by Jeremy Irons (haven't really seen any of his other movies before) who saves a woman from jumping of a bridge in Bern, Switzerland. He brings her to his work, but she runs off and leaves her jacket. In the woman's jacket pocket he finds a book, by a Portuguese doctor and part of the Portuguese Revolution, and a train ticket to Lisbon. He takes the things and decides to go Lisbon, where the rest of the story unfolds. It's an intense movie, but the sort of intense that makes you feel happy, sad, and curious, all at the same time!

But moving forward! Speaking of trains, Saturday morning Claudia and I took the train from Sevilla to Córdoba! I went through a little bit of a bumpy road this week to try and go, just for the day, but I pushed myself, and made it happen! I told myself that I had a free weekend, and why not go! You only have so much time in Spain, and who knows when you'll come back!
So, we got into Córdoba at around ten. We had a little bit of frenzy getting a bearings, especially since there was nobody on the street. But no worries, everything turned out fine!
Our first destination was the Mezquita, which was AMAZING!!!!!!! It's so weird thinking that a little over two years ago, for my final project in high school Spanish, I was planning a ¨trip¨ in Spain. I added the Mezquita to one of the things to see, but then I thought I would never be able to see it, but life does take you in unexpected directions.

The Mezquita, I thought, was much more impressive than the Cathedral and Giralda here in Sevilla, maybe because the Cathedral and Giralda are Gothic and darker. But the interesting thing about the Mezquita is that it has multiple parts, that people kept on building onto. The first part, which is underground, is the Chapel of Saint Vincent, a priest who was born in Zaragoza and was a martyr. Then the Moors came to Andalucia around 745, and constructed the majority of the building, but at different periods. And, in 1492 all of the Jews and Muslims were given the choice of either fleeing the Iberian Peninsula or to convert to Christianity. So, in the middle of the Mezquita is a Baroque (maybe?) ¨Cathedral."

Remains of Saint Vincent

The Cathedral at the Mezquita

Afterwards we walked across el Puente Romano (Roman Bridge) and were thinking about going into the Museum of Al-Andalus, but there was a protest going on in front, so we decided against it.

El Puente Romano

We then went to the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (Christian Kings.) The interior wasn't to impressive, mostly because there was nothing to see except for a tiny Moorish mosaic, but the gardens made up for it.

Then we walked in el Barrio Judío, to go the la Sinagoga (Synagogue,) which ended up being only one room, but was still fairly interesting. After the Jews were expelled from Spain, the synagogue was used as a church, and you can still see a cross painted on the wall. But, most interesting thing was seeing the Hebrew inscriptions, from the Torah, on the wall.

La Sinagoga

Honestly, after witnessing Semana Santa, and all of the Moorish and Jewish influences here in Andalucia, and I think that for any religious, anthropological, or historical scholar, this would be a cultural heaven (not literally!) I mean look at these two pictures! They were right next to each other at the Mezquita!
We went to the zoo, which was fun, but I feel like in the future I need to do a little better planning when going to a city that I am not familiar with, like Córdoba, so that I am able to embrace the atmosphere of the city as much as I can! I mean, I learned that Córdoba is famous for it's patios. I got to see a few, but if I did a little more work, I bet we could have seen more!

One of the lovely patios!

But, after the zoo, I looked at my handy dandy Rick Steve's guide to Andalucia, and saw that he recommended to go to Plaza de las Tendillas, in the city center, which ended up being very neat! It had a funky fun feel to it, with the Córdobesa Bachillerato de las Artes school's windows filled with pictures of eyes and tons of kids going around on skate boards (almost got my fingers got cut off by one of them.)
Today we went to el Museo de Arqueología, and discovered that there was a civilization in the province of Cadiz, called Tartessia. Nobody can decipher their language (writings) or understand their religion, but they have one symbol placed on everything, and their is a theory that it may represent the lost city of Atlantis (IDK?)
Finally, something that I have forgotten to mention is that for about a month now I have been helping out with the primary classes at my school, whenever I have Math, Economics, or English. I go to the bilingual classes, which are English and Science, and teach the students songs, games, and help out with the teacher. Sometimes I can't stop laughing at the little kids (which proves my brother Ben right, that I can not be a first grade teacher) or I need to find new ways to make them quiet (making the llama sign.) But, overall, I love it, and sometimes it makes all the difference in my day!
Next trip- Barcelona!

Holy.... What?

My body aches from head to toe, and am incredibly exhausted, but I'm still high on life! What could this possibly mean? I don't know, maybe I'm in Sevilla during one of the world's most renowned festivals- Semana Santa! Now I don't think my Holy Week experience started on Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday.) Oh no! I think it all started when I spotted a random food cart in Nervion Plaza. I thought it was there because it has gotten summery, but why would anyone want to eat churros at noon on a Tuesday? Only on Semana Santa (I at churros con chocolate at four in the morning!)
I was very happy to finally have school off, for a week! Friday we got out of school early, and I sprinted home. We had fish, since it was the Friday of Sorrows! After I met some friends of mine by the Guadalquivir, and showed them Triana, and then I had to go back to the apartment. We were going to go to a paso, since it was the holy day for the Virgen Dolores. I don't know what happened, but I fell asleep.
Saturday I was adventurous and went on a really long run through Sevilla. Now that I think about it, running alone in a city is something that I would not have been able to do a year ago, nor telling myself in school that things are going to be fine, and assuring myself (and actually believing) that I am a fine person! That afternoon (or 7 in the evening) Margarita and I went shopping at the Nervion Plaza (that is something else that has changed, I don't mind shopping as much as I once did. I think shopping in my scenario, though, is like a health addict eating the occasional pack of potato chips.) After we met Conchi and went to the paso de la Milagrosa. I'm really happy that we went, because then I was introduced to the process of holy week parades. First of all, there are two pasos, the Virgen and El Cristo. Each Hermanidad (the church that is allowed to have a paso, but they have to go through a specific process beforehand) has a different Cristo and Virgen. They are considered two different parts, because the Nazarenos* (KKK look a likes!) Each church has different colored and styles for the Nazareno tunics. Each Virgin and Christ float have men underneath them, called Castaleros. They usually where these clothes over there heads, which kind of look like Saharan nomadic headdresses, but I think they are mostly there for preventing any burns or rashes from carrying the float, since all the weight is on their arms and necks! Also, depending on the paso, there are Roman soldiers, (Romanos, I think) with huge feathers in their helmets. And then there are the bands! The band for El Cristo is much more somber, and is made up of only brass instruments, while the Virgen's band is upbeat and is essentially a complete marching band. When I heard the bands this past week I was like, ¨Since when was I listening to the Up soundtrack!" Yes, the music of Semana Santa does have a somewhat Pixar feel to it. But one notable thing about Semana Santa is that there is a lot of standing up and waiting. Since there are hundreds of Nazarenos between each paso, the parade lasts up to an hour, and there isn't really anywhere to sit, even if you do bring a seat.
Sunday was Domingo de Ramos, or Palm Sunday. Now this is the day when everyone gets dressed up. No, it wasn't your golf shirt and khaki pants sort of deal. Oh no! The whole week people were dressed in freshly ironed suits and the latest dresses from Zara. So, being an exchange student with limited clothes, I made my best effort to look like a fashionable Spaniard (and I think it worked, since I was asked directions several times this week!)
Sunday, Margarita, Conchi, Margarita's niece Rocio, Margarita's brother's family, and I went to Parque Maria Luisa to see La Paz (the Peace,) which was so beautiful, words can't even describe it! So, here's a picture!

After, we went to el Cristo de Burgos to San Roque. Somewhat funny story about that. So during these ¨parades," there is a lot of waiting and standing between the Cristo and the Virgin. Thus, the space is filled up with Nazarenos. So, I was just standing there, zoning out, when I heard my name. I thought someone was shouting for someone else, but no, there was a Nazareno staring right at me. Turned out it was a girl in my class, and in front of her was another boy in my class. They gave me candy (which is supposed to be given out to the small children) which made me feel really happy. After we went to some more pasos, all of which is somewhat of a blur, due to the fact that my feet were aching from standing up all day, and that I was plain old tired!

Monday was the day when the Iglesia de la Resurrecion (which is famous for it's Cristo, El Beso de Juda) had their paso, which is the church that Margarita's family belongs to, so her nephew, Pablo, and brother, David, were both Nazarenos. (Margarita's four year old niece, Julia, was supposed to be in the parade also, but she had a little temper tantrum, so that was that.)

I over did it on Tuesday! In the ¨morning¨ (noon) I met my friend Gabriella in the city center, and then when I got back, at three, the Virgin and the Cristo left the nearby church, San Benito.
Wednesday, we saw La Sed, which is the church right by my school, and San Bernardo. I think that that Virgin was the most beautiful of all, mostly because she had blue eyes, but at the beginning of Semana Santa I couldn't tell the difference between all of the virgins, but as the week went on, the virgins looked older and more serious. Some of them looked as if they had been crying, with red around their eyes.*

That afternoon (6) I met Gema, the math teacher that I have lunch with every Wednesday, her husband, Javi, their children, Gema and Marina, as well as my English teacher, Tere. We ended up meeting up with another teacher, Manoli, and her family (her son is actually in one of the classes that I help out with. Another blog prompt.) We saw La Lanzada, El Cristos de Burgos, and El Carmen. I really liked El Carmen, because we were standing in front of a church and when the Virgen came by, the whole procession stopped, and everyone in the crowd sang. Kind of cool! But the most memorable part of the evening was when we saw La Sed again. It was late, but it was so beautiful seeing the Virgin lit up, and the Nazarenos walking by candlight. Just one of the things that will be pressed in my memory forever!

Cristo de Burgas at Las Setas

Cristo de Burgos at Las Setas

Thursday, the day of the Last Supper. So being Andalucia, a lot of women were wearing the style of La Mantilla, which is when they wore black dresses, with a huge comb and black veil over it. That morning we went to see the la Esperanza de la Macarena (there are four Esperanzas en Sevilla: Triana, San Roque, la Macarena, and la Trinidad,) ready for going out that evening for La Madrugada.

La Esperanza de la Macarena

Later that evening we attended la Madrugada, which are the pasos held early (they start at one) Friday morning. We saw La Gran Poder and El Silencio in Plaza Duque, which has been one of the most crowded places that I have ever encountered here in Spain. One boy, who was standing right behind me actually fainted! I went to bed that evening at the early hour of four!

El Gran Poder

Virgen del Silencio

Friday we went to the Bascilica de la Macarena, to see the Macarena enter. Interesting fact about the Macarena. Not only is it the most famous virgin in Sevilla, each side of her face is different. One side is purple, as if she's drunk, and the other is white. Watch ya know!

One of the Roman soldiers from the Paso de la Macarena 

That evening we went out again to see more pasos, and they began to be a little bit more serious. My favorite one was La Mortuga, mostly because it was more personable, and different. Instead of having a loud band, there was a choir and a woodwind trio. Also, we were standing in a really narrow street, so when the Cristo came by, you didn't even need to make an effort to touch the side of it.

Nazarenos of La Mortuga

Saturday we went to La Trinidad, which was another fairly intense paso. The main one was an image of Jesus coming off of the cross, and there were all of these people surrounding him: Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, I'm assuming the men were disciples, and then the most important part of the float was the woman with the handkerchief over her face, which represented the faith. I mentioned that the pasos got darker as the week went on, Well, the most notable of the pasos I saw that evening, was Santo Entierro, which had two parts, the first being a skeleton kneeling next to the Cross, and the other was a glass casket with a statue of the dead Jesus.
And today is Easter Sunday. Honestly, nobody really makes a big deal of it here. It's almost like the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Everyone is returning from their vacations on the beach and tidying things around the house.
So there's the run down! Next week is my last full week of school (whoo-whoo!) and then two weeks until Feria!
*The reason why the Nazarenos have coned hats is because during the Inquisition people wore such hats for punishment (so I was told.) So my interpretation is that the Nazarenos represent the sins of humanity.

Huelva

After a long and exhausting week (I had a cold which stunk!) I was rewarded for my endurance by going to Huelva with my ¨host friend,¨ Claudia, and I had a BLAST!!!! We took the train from Santa Justa (the train station,) one of the many positives of my life, living five minutes from the train station.

When we arrived we were met by Claudia's boyfriend, Kevin (he's actually Spanish, with no connections to English speaking countries) and their friend Pablo. We walked around the city center, which I really liked. There aren't a lot of major sites (unless you want to go to the first theater to have electricity in Spain) but I felt like I could actually live in Huelva. The people looked funky and fun (from first impressions) opposed to Sevilla's stylish and traditional pedestrians. Claudia, Kevin, and Pablo all said that they want to leave Huelva, which wasn't surprising, because it's what most 18 year olds say about their hometown! 

Later we went to a mall to see Ocho Apellidos Vasco, (we were almost late because we went to Mercadona, the Spanish Trader Joe's, which is of course, the bomb!) which is a comedy about a guy from Sevilla that falls in love with a girl from Pais Vasco. Initially he goes to Pais Vasco to return her wallet, but then she reunites with her father, who thinks that the sevilliano is her fiancee. There were a lot of jokes about País Vasco, which I didn't understand, but I was fine with the ones about Andalucia. I think from now on, though, I'm going to stick with watching movies about Spain, or Spanish culture, when I go to the movies, because, hey, I can watch English movies whenever I want on American Netflix, but I can't watch cool Spanish films!

Afterwards we went out to dinner with her parents and brother, Marcos, at a pizzeria and then we went to her house, which is on the outskirts of Huelva.

Saturday we went to Parque Natural Donana, which is a major bird refuge (saw some American Audubon members walking about.) There was a big mansion (palacio) there, which is now a museum. While there, I learned that at the park, there were people that lived, until fairly recently, in little straw huts, gathered all of their food, and did all of the typical things that the Native American Indians once did. And, apparently there are still people that live this way on a river (that I have forgotten the name of) near the border of the provinces of Huelva and Cadiz.

After we went to Matalascanas, which is ¨la playa de Sevilla,¨ where we had lunch, and what a lunch. It was my first large lunch out, and boy, was it deliciously! Before, people asked me what my favorite Spanish food was, and I didn't have a concrete answer, but after that meal, I know exactly what they are now, coquinas and chocos. Coquinas are small shellfish cooked with olive oil and garlic sauce, which chocos are what what American's think of as calamari, but of course, with a Spanish twist. 

After coming upon a random motorcycling flamenco concert (much more low key than your average Harley Davidson crowd,) and getting lost in a another nature park, we went to the Virgin of Rocio, which is a large church, located next to a marsh. While there I learned there is a camino, like the Camino de Santiago, but shorter, that goes from Almonte, my host mother's ¨town"(even though she has never lived there) to the Virgin of Rocio. 

We then stopped on the way back at another shopping mall, where I saw Dofin Dogels, the Spanish spin off of Dunkin' Donuts. 

Sunday, we went to see the Pinta, Santa Maria, and the Nina. Yes, that's right, I saw the ships that Christopher Columbus sailed the sea in 1492 (or at least replicas of them.)

Then we went to Mozoran, another town on the beach, and had another delicious meal out. After lunch we walked on the beach for a little bit, which was perfect, considering that the weather has unexpectedly decided to become hot!
And, before I forget, I'd just like to mention the things that I learned from Claudia about the college education system here in Spain. So, in June everyone takes the entrance exams into university. Each major has a different requirement for how high you need to score on your exams, and a different price! Claudia is an art history student at the Universidad de Sevilla, and she said that to study art history you need to get a 5 on your exam, and pay 2,000 euros a year! CRAZY!!!!!!!
Over these past few months I feel like not only my Spanish has improved, tremendously, but I have also come to some realizations. First of all, I am happy that I am going to UVM! Although I love living here in Sevilla, I really miss the mountains, but I also like living in the city, and, guess what, UVM has both. Also, I miss playing music. I still need to be proactive and buy a ukulele, but I just don't have any time (maybe if I didn't look at Facebook so much!) Most importantly,  I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life, or what the heck I'm going to major in, but I want to make positive impacts on peoples lives, whether it's being a Spanish teacher or running a non-profit that gives wheel burrows to women farmers in West Africa. I just remind myself everyday, that it's my life, and I have complete control!