Trip to Córdoba, First Fútbol Game, and Some Random Observations

Last weekend, my program had a mandatory trip to Córdoba, Spain. I am so glad that my program has these trips-- otherwise, I probably wouldn't have made the trip to these amazing places!

Córdoba is smaller than the cities I've visited so far. It reminded me of Granada a little, but, again, it wasn't as big. The architecture is similar and in both cities you can see the different cultural influences that have been in the area. For example, this BEAUTIFUL Muslim "mezquita" was taken over by the Christians, and converted to a cathedral, just like la Alhambra in Granada. What a beautiful building!

The details of the building are truly incredible.

In this picture I tried to show how tall the Mezquita-cathedral was.... reeeeeally tall...

We visited a synagogue, but only for about 5 minutes-- apparently we had a very short time limit. We also went to the "Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos"-- Palace of the Christian Kings. It had such pretty gardens!

That's me! It turned out to be a great day, weather-wise. Have you ever seen a bluer sky?

Some guys who definitely scared us the first time we walked by-- so funny.
Especially when we saw other people from our program walking up, about to be victimized.

All in all, it was a great day trip and I'm so glad I had the chance to go. And since there didn't seem to be much to do in the streets after our touristy visits, a day trip was a perfect amount of time.

What else? I went to a soccer game and had a total blast! As most people know, soccer, "fútbol," is the most popular sport of Spain. Seville has two different teams-- "Sevilla Futbol Club" and "Betis". After asking several sevillano people which team they prefer, I've come to the conclusion that everybody just has his or her own favorite team. Apparently, the Sevilla-Betis game is insane and impossible to get tickets for.

At the stadium

While the game was a little slow, at the very end, Sevilla came in for a goal and won, 2-1. So exciting!

This adorable little boy who was sitting in front of me had a lot to say about the players.
 

Even though I know pretty much nothing about soccer / sports in general, I loved the atmosphere. all the people sang Sevilla fight songs-- I was wishing I knew the words. I bought a scarf to hold up, too. I'm already looking into tickets for another game.

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Other random observations...


1. The keys throw me off here-- the teeth are face-up instead of face-down.

2. You may or may not have to pay to use bathrooms in stores, etc... And sometimes (for example in the center) you can't flush toilet paper--weird/ kinda skeevy.

3. Water a lot of times costs more than alcohol. I think it has something to do with the water regulation, since whenever I order water it usually comes bottled. And you can literally walk into a convenience store and buy a bottle of wine or a six-pack for under one euro.

4. There are ham and cheese flavored potato chips. "Jamón" (ham) is very popular in Andalucía.

5. Most of the music I've heard is American, in English. Although a little behind-- a handful of people have asked me about Frank Sinatra. The impact we have on other countries is much greater than I had realized-- from holidays (US bringing Halloween to Europe, for example) to music, we're everywhere.

6. Nobody walks and eats at the same time, except the tourists.

7. My pillowcases are open on both sides, instead of one. So when I make my bed my pillow usually falls out to the floor- ha!

8. It seems like all the young people use apps (WhatsApp) instead of actual texting.

9. There are lots of what I think are stray dogs, but I can't always tell because people don't really leash their dogs.

10. Chips and French fries are called by the same name, "patatas fritas," literally "fried potatoes", which makes for confusion for a junkie like me.

 

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Well folks, that's all for now. Hasta pronto, amigos!