Cordoba and Last Night In Spain

I slept very well last night. After a few nights in a row of being sleep deprived, I finally had a good night’s rest on a bed that was much larger than the ones on the ship and had a pillow that was not a foot thick. Breakfast was great, because they had tons of cereal and I ate to my heart’s content of rice crispies and cocoa rice. It felt quite good. We then started our tour of Cordoba. We walked to the old Roman wall of the city, and strolled around it until we reached the Castle of Cordoba. Entering it, we came to some gorgeous gardens with long ponds and fountains bordered by tall bushes and fruit trees. After that, off to the Mezquita, a cathedral featuring Islamic and Christian architecture. It was beautiful and quite interesting seeing that blend between two architectural styles. The Cathedral had over 100 Islamic arches surrounded by numerous altars. In the center was a cathedral with exquisite decoration and ornamentation that was built when the Christians re-conquered Cordoba and made space by destroying some of the arches. It was interesting to see so many of the same type of arch in a single building, and amazing how every single seemed to be painted exactly alike. From there, the tour took a turn downhill. We walked through the Jewish community of the old part of the city, which made no sense why they had it because according to our tour guide there were not enough Jewish people living in that area to form a community. This part seemed a bit pointless, aside some seeing some beautiful buildings. When we exited the community, we found ourselves at the entrance to the old Roman wall: we had simply taken a very big circle around the old town. We were given free time until lunch was served, which was an affair of fruits and salad for me. I sat and ate with my comedy professor, his wife, the art professor, and two lifelong learners, who were all great people to talk to. After that, our group separated from the Seville-Cordoba-Granada trip. We got on our bus (which came an hour late) and began our 3.5 hour journey back to Cadiz, during which I napped and took time to reflect on what I saw. Cordoba was an interesting city, but I wished that we had spent more time in Seville, because that city seemed to have so much more different and interesting things to see, and it was just a bigger city in general. Seeing the ship again felt like we got back home, which is scary that within two weeks we already consider the MV Explorer as our home and refuge from the world. We were able to get back in time for dinner, and so I stuffed myself with pasta and rice, because I was starving after my nonexistent dinner. After unpacking my stuff, I ran into Dino who just got back from his Barcelona trip (which was apparently amazing). I then chilled with him and his Barcelona friends while they also stuffed themselves. We realized how behind we were with news and connecting with the world, and so decided to have a massive internet party at the Cathedral Plaza (which is the favorite place for the SAS students to conglomerate and Skype with friends and family). While Skyping with my mom and little brother, this really drunk guy sat next to us, and started having a one-sided conversation with us (only he was talking and we were not responding because he was really creepy). He eventually started talking very loudly, and began yelling at random people walking by and screaming things like “I am happier than all of you rich people.” After a few minutes of this interesting entertainment, we decided that we should leave and head back to the ship to get ready to hang out with people in the city in our final night in Spain. It was a great night after an okay morning. I met many other students that night and had a great time just chatting with everyone. We got back very late, because culture in Spain is very late-oriented. For example, nightclubs and bars don’t really get going until 2 or 3 am, and end around 6-7 in the morning. I then met up with Noah who also just got back from Barcelona, and caught up with him and shared travel stories. Now its really late, and I have to get up tomorrow and go crazy souveigner shopping. I don’t understand why it is so difficult to find a medium-sized Spanish flag (all the ones I’ve seen have been like Wall-sized) and a Blue Spain FIFA World Cup Jersey (I can only find the red ones). Tomorrow will be crazy shopping, posting postcards, and final internet day. And the very next evening we will be getting to Morocco. So my next 6 days are going to be intense! Looking forward to it!
-Nimish
September 7, 2010