¿Por qué no te callas?

Yesterday I took a much needed, three-and-a-half hour long nap.

Kevo left for the airport bus at 5 in the morning after a weekend that can only be described as “excelente”. I hope his hours of trans-oceanic travels were worth the four and a half days he spent here with me in the south of Spain!

We got to do a lot in Granada even though we were only here a day a half. We went out for really good tapas and sangria (or, in Kevin’s case, Fanta). We did some euro shopping – I bought a green sweater, my favorite color. We went to Beers of the World, one of my favorite bars in Granada, and a new one called Dolce Vita where they make over one hundred different shots. We sang karaoke at Little Hannigans. We had chorros con chocolate, tostadas, and café con leche at the best café in town, Café Alhambra, and had fresh squeezed zumo de naranja at one of my new finds, a café called Kroxan. Best of all, Kevin got to meet all my friends here, including our Spanish friend Alberto.

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving. We all prettied ourselves up and then followed Jorge through the streets of Granada (Americans on Parade!) to this fancy restaurant where they were to serve us a turkey lunch. The entire study abroad group went, as did Kevo and Mike’s girlfriend Bridget who was also visiting from out of town, all of our teachers and the director of the Centro, Angel. We sat at one long table, spattered with jugs of water, beer, and wine. Pretty typical for Spain. My friends and I ended up down on the teachers’ end of the table, though it was probably for the best as it placed Kiersten and I directly across from our PoliSci professor… (Kevo did a surprisingly good job using his high-school Spanish skills, and insisted on ordering for himself the entire trip. Sometimes I caught him starting up conversations with Jorge’s daughter Olga. So I was impressed.) Lunch started with rolls and slices of Spanish ham and cheese. Then came the mixed salads. Then soup. Then turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing in a blueberry/raspberry sauce. Then an apple tart. Then champagne. Then one of my classmates made a speech. All told, it was a good way to celebrate such a family-oriented holiday while so far away from family.

Speaking of family, after lunch Kevo got to meet the infamous family Ruiz. María Pepa got all dolled up for his arrival and Alfonzo told him all kinds of stories he couldn’t understand. Meanwhile, a documentary special on elephant seals was playing on the flat screen TV. Every once and awhile they would get distracted by a baby seal caught in the surf or a duck sticking his bill into a big, undefined pile of blubber. It was pretty comical. I was really glad Kevo got to meet them, now he can tell you that I’m not making up how short they really are!

I have to say Sevilla and Cordoba was my favorite group-wide weekend excursion, and I’m sad it was our last. Cordoba is a tiny little town that I probably wouldn’t go back to again except that it has a seriously phenomenal Mezquita and is pretty rich in Arab culture. The arab influence in Cordoba is second only to Granada. Also, they do some nice work with silver. However, it all felt pretty touristy to me…although we only speant half a day there so who really knows?

We drove into Sevilla at dusk, and I could tell right away it was amazing. It looks a lot like Granada except cleaner, bigger, and more cosmopolitan. It was very quaint and felt much more European than heavily-Arab Granada. Our hotel was four stars (only the best, says Jorge) and it was in a very cute part of town. We took trips to the Cathedral and the Alcazar, which were both really amazing. Also, we stopped briefly at the Plaza de Espana, where they shot part of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. We spent a lot of time wandering the streets and just admiring how quaint the city is, and it was nice to get back to an honest-to-goodness Starbucks. What's more, we speant a great night in one of the hotel rooms playing perhaps the best game of Picture Down the Lane in history.

Well, I am distracted by all kinds of things so this might be a rambling post... I'll come back to it soon and edit it with more info and such - but for now I thought I'd leave you with this summary of the weekend. Three weeks left and I'm living it up!!!