Por fin.
Wow, what a weekend. Where do I even begin? I know I haven’t posted in a while, so here it goes… This weekend we had an organized excursion to GRANADA. I can’t even explain the feeling of being back. As soon as we pulled in the city, it was just like this overwhelming feeling of the familiar and the warmth of good memories and just a sense of home, really…. sort of like driving onto campus after a long break or the smell of the Knoxville airport after a long trip. It was amazing. And just what I needed, really.
It was SO FUN being able to show my new friends some of my favorite places and streets and restaurants and spots around the city. It was really nice actually because the hotel we were in was literally like three blocks from my old apartment, so it really was just like reliving the summer (minus about 70 degrees and all of my friends). Speaking of which, was so weird. As fun as it was to be able to show my friends from Sevilla around, being back in Granada made me miss my friends from this summer terribly. That’s the funny thing about studying abroad (and life, really), someone can be SUCH an incredible part of your life and bring nothing but great times and wonderful memories and have such an inexplicable impact on you, and then… that’s it. You go back to the states and go back to your lives and just go on knowing the experience you share together… and no one else gets it. I know that sounds kind of depressing, but I don’t mean it to be. I just know the friends I made this summer (and I am sure the friends I am making here in Sevilla) get it. And it just felt very weird and empty being back in our city without them. Because as fun as it was to share Granada with everyone, they didn’t get it really. Not my memories and stories and feelings embedded there. But c’est la vie, I think. And in a weird way, I think there is beauty in that.
Unfortunately, Inma was out of town this weekend at a wedding in her hometown. That was kind of a bummer, but I am definitely going to be going back another weekend soon to see her! I can’t even wait for that. I can honestly say she is someone who has had one of the biggest impacts on me in my entire life. The time I spent with her this summer so greatly changed my perspective on life and the world and people and beauty, I can’t even explain it really. So needless to say, I am very excited to have the opportunity to see her again.
Anyways, so this weekend: started out with a bus ride from Sevilla to Cordoba at 8 en la mañana on Friday…. rough, to say the least. But we made it. And spent the afternoon in Cordoba, touring the cathedral and having THE best meal I have had in a while. I was super excited to see the cathedral, actually, cause we studied it pretty in depth in my religious studies class last year. The same ground started as a Roman ceremony space, then a Catholic cathedral, then Moorish mosque, then (and now finally) a Catholic cathedral once again. That’s pretty amazing. And the remnants of the mosque are unbelievably beautiful. 
Then we got back on the bus and made our way to Granada! Eeee, I already explained my excitement. Once we got checked into our hotel, we made our way to my favorite teteria in the Albaycin, Casablanca. The owner, Youness, remembered me from the summer (!) and promptly greeted me with two kisses and asked about all my friends and how I have been and when I am coming back to Granada. It was wonderful. And so was our Moroccan tea and manzana chachima (hookah). After hanging out there for a little while, we met with one of Keliana’s friends from home who has been in Granada for the past six months! She took us to a FANTASTIC restaurant called Babel. It was super hip/world-fusion/hippie-esque and we had a few rounds of drinks and amazing tapas. Oh, how I have missed the free tapas of Granada. We finished off the night with time spent at the infamous Chupiteria and then finally Mae West. It was SO MUCH FUN. Like the perfect night.
It was the perfect weekend, really. All I can say, and leave you with, is that life truly is beautiful. And rich and deep and complicated and wonderful. That’s all. Now I’ve got some homework to do……(what’s that?). I swear I am in Disneyworld. Not school. Oy.
Keepin ya posted!
C
