Andalucia Part 2: Cordoba and Sevilla

A warning about this post, this is the blurriest 2 days of the whole 5 weeks I´ve been here.

We left Granada at about noon, and then drove 3 hours to Cordoba. On the way, we stopped at this restaurant in the middle of nowhere, and poured a ton of euros into the local economy. We sat at the restaurant, and the waitress told us they had 5 things, and that was it. I don´t think they knew what hit them.

We arrived in Cordoba at about 3 p.m. for our 2 hour, yes, that´s 2 hour, stay in the city. I can`t tell you anything substantial about the visit except the following:

1. The Mezquita is amazing and weird. There´s a church in the middle of a mosque.
2. The tour guide was a scream. He started every little speech with "well, Well, WELL." He would say things like, "Okay, let´s move our asses over here." He was great, but it was impossible situation for him because the students were so antsy.
3. They have amazingly aggressive gypsies. I actually had to yell at one to leave me alone.

Then back on the bus for a 2 hour trip to Sevilla. I got there, ate dinner, went to sleep.

It was not the best day.

The next day we took a tour of Sevilla, which was much hotter and dryer than the other two cities. The tour guides were amazing, but I think the students had lost it at this point, and they were pretty rude. I´m going to call one today to apologize.

Highlights of this trip:

1. At the Plaza España, which is essentially a World´s Fair structure, there are ceramic plaques for every region of Spain. We stopped at the Barcelona one for pictures, and this woman started screaming at us that we were taking too much time, and that we needed to move. Imagine in the picture to the right a woman screaming at the students, and yet, they are still smiling.
2. In the Jewish quarter, I had a coffee with our tour guide. We agreed completely on the Catalan/Barcelona problem. She thought I was crazy to stay in Barcelona if I wanted to learn Spanish.
3. This is probably the absolute low point of the trip for me. In the Cathedral, I asked the tour guide if they said mass there. She said yes, and explained where and how, etc. Then, seriously one minute later, a student asked, "So do they say mass here?" I looked at her, and said, "She just said yes." Then, 30 seconds later, another student: "So, do they say mass here." I looked at the tour guide in dismay.

Then, we go to Columbus´s tomb. Carmen, the tourguide, tells us that they´ve done some DNA testing on the bones in the tomb, that they are the remains of Columbus, that they´re not all there, and that they´re in the top portion of the tomb. We move to the side of the tomb:

Student 1: "So, is Columbus buried here."
Me: "Yes! Carmen just said so."
Student 2: "So, is Columbus buried here."
Me: "Holy, sh . . ."
Student 3: "Are all his bones here."
Me: !
Student 1 again: "Are all his bones here."
I´m so embarassed to be American at this point.
Student 2: "Where´s his body?"
Student 3: "Do they know his bones are really buried here."
Student 4: "So, is Columbus buried here."

At this point, Carmen, and I, had at it. End of the tour! Adios, and thanks for coming. I needed a stiff drink, and Carmen was so pissed off, she just left. She´s the one I have to call.

I needed a nap. But instead I had lunch with some students, and actually it was a lot of fun. I think they´re brains are just on overload at this point.

That night, I went out with 4 students for dinner, and had a great time. I took a bath, and was asleep by midnight.

The next day was much, much better.