Que mono!

Oh long type no talk. So basically life is pretty general. Even though I’m in Spain, I’m still just going to school everyday, which never really ends up being that exciting. However, we make up for that on the weekends with fun trips. So has begun the season of travel, I have decided. It seems like literally nearly every weekend from here on out, at least one day will be spent outside of Sevilla. Alright, recap.

Last weekend we went to Cordoba, which is probably about two hours from Sevilla. First we visited a “bodega” or a winery. That was a very cultural experience. I’m not very big into wine because it’s too bitter for me. We tasted three types of wine. One was vino fino, which is DISGUSTING. It’s just really dry and bitter. Then we had semi-dulce (semi-sweet) and dulce, which tasted like molasses. Needless to say, the semi-dulce was my favorite. Although my favorite was probably the picos, which are like the minibreadsticks you sometimes get at restaurants.

We then continued our journey onto La Mezquita. La Mezquita is a famous mosque that was the capital of Islam during the califato of the Omeyas, I think. Haha. Anyway, it was very big and beautiful and cool to see because I’ve learned about it in Spanish class, so it was cool to see it in real life. It actually has a Catholic church in the middle of it, This was done with permission of the king, who then got angry when he saw how beautiful the Mezquita was, and he thought they had ruined it. But, yes. Very pretty building. Sad story though. I lost my umbrella!

I know, I know. Ridiculous. But, I brought that umbrella from the US, and it was from Target and so cute, and when we were eating I put it down and I must have forgot it because at some point I was walking and I was like, “Oh know! My umbrella!” Following this, it rained. Just my luck.

Today I visited Gibratar which is about 3 hours from Sevilla, and it’s actually a British colony. Such a strange culture. They use the British pound, a lot of people are bilingual with British accents. I ate fish and chips too just because I love fish and chips and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I’m still not even sure if it’s like a little mini England or what. It did make me want to go back to England though. I think I liked it because it’s foreign but they speak English.

Onward in our journey! We took some mini buses up to the rock where we proceeded to St. Michael’s Cave. That was very cool, but one of those things where it’s really only cool in person because I’m not capable of taking pictures that capture it’s beauty. So, if you want to see the less than impressive pictures, you may check facebook. Then, the exciting stuff: MONKEYS! They were so cute, and actually pretty mild.

They are OBSESSED with food. My friend Sal had crackers in his pocket and he was going to take one out of the package, and a little baby monkey heard the wrapper crinkle and came running. Then later the bus driver let a monkey into the bus and he stole a girls lunch! That freaked me out. Let me tell you. I don’t do well with the whole monkey thing. Everyone was letting them crawl on their heads by luring them with food, but I was leary because I didn’t want there to be a monkey fight on me over the food we were luring, and by the time I was like “Well I should just do it’ the guy was like “ This one is the only mean one. She’s the only one who will bite.” Naturally, I declined. However, I have some photos that are pretty close, and some pictures of the monkeys themselves, and were they ever cute!