Córdoba

Once again, I yearn for a car. Really. You can take the chica out of America but you can't take the American out of the chica. Ah well. Jenny and I went to Badajoz on Friday, we rented a car with Sydney, and set out for Córdoba on Saturday morning. It was a Fiat Panda this time, and we all independently agreed that a geek would probably drive that car. Not hott. There were five of us squeezed into the car for the 3 hour ride each way. The weather was not nice--heavy rain punctuated by brief periods of drizzle/clear. Definitely Washington weather, this. The weather for the last couple weeks has been so fickle, with lots of unexpected showers. It's rained more this month than during the entire winter here. Reminds me of home a bit. Everything is very green though, the campo is beautiful.

We went to the Mezquita, after finding out way through the city somehow. It's amazing. I went there the last time I was here but it meant something completely different this time. Now I understand the historical context, the significance. I don't remember the cathedral (smack dab in the middle of the old mosque) being so jarring last time. Ugly. Completely out of place. The contrast between the two religions, the two cultures, was so abrupt; the juxtaposition so strange. I realized how tired I am of cathedrals and nearly everything Catholic. I'm over it for the time being. We also went to the synagogue, one of the few surviving ones in Spain.

That afternoon we went to a teahouse. I love the teahouses here, especially with their Middle Eastern pastries. Baklava... All in all it was an excellent day. Now I'm back in Coria to work two days, then off to Tarifa, Algeciras and Morocco! I can't wait!