Moving to Córdoba

Well, last week we made the big move to Córdoba. Our contracts as Auxiliares de Conversación for the 2016-2017 year finished on the 31 of May. Our next contract in the program will start in the beginning of October. We were lucky enough to get placed in Córdoba, a small, enchanting city that we love. We made the decision to move to Córdoba right away, so that we could get year-long contracts on things like our apartment and internet, and also so that we could be closer to a cinema that plays VOSE (original voice, Spanish subtitles) movies and a church.

We wanted to travel to Córdoba one of the weekends in May so that we could see some apartments, but May happens to be Córdoba's biggest tourist month and all of the hostels were full and the hotel prices were much to high for our budget. So on June 1, we threw the Hail-Mary pass of housing searches and packed our bags, moved out of our apartment, and took some busses to Cordoba.

It has been an adventure to live in this beautiful city for the last 15 days and we are looking forward to the next year. Cleopatra has enjoyed taking walks in the beautiful parks, and has learned to drink from the water fountains that are scattered throughout town.

The apartment that we found is a little second floor number in a 60 or 70 year old building not too far from the center of town. Come fall, we will be well located to have pleasant walks (or bus rides) to the schools that we have been assigned to.

Córdoba

I have a great co-worker, Chema, who is a long-term substitute at the high school where I work. He works a couple of months at a time in high schools all across Andalucía, but lives in Córdoba. So every weekend he drives to Córdoba on Friday night and then back to El Ejido on Sunday night. He was kind enough to let us carpool with him this weekend. It was a real blessing because we got to mark a ton of things off of our Spanish bucket list without spending time on a bus!

Like any good tourists visiting the Córdoba, our first stop was the Mezquita-Catedral. This site has been the home of temples, churches or mosques clear back into antiquity. There was originally a Roman temple on the site. Then the Visigoths built a church over the Roman temple. In the Al-Andalus period, the (gigantic) mosque was built, and expanded and expanded and expanded. Finally, after the reconquista, the Christians built a cathedral in the middle of the mosque. 

This bell tower was built by the christians where the minaret used to be.

The peaceful Patio de Naranjos (Orange Tree Graden), was used in the middle ages for ritual ablutions.

We entered the mosque just as the Saturday morning mass was finishing up. It was incredible to wander through the forest of columns and arches while hearing choir and organ play music of worship. There is a spot in the northwest corner of the mosque were the floor has been replaced with glass panelling so that you can see the remains of a mosaic floor from the Visigoth chapel, about 10 feet lower. Standing there, contemplating the mosaic, and listening to the music, I realized that people had been coming to this site, virtually continuously, for at least 2,000 years to worship in some form or another.

The most beautiful person in the world with the Mezquita's iconic double horseshoe arch.

This gorgeous niche is the Mihrab. Its southern orientation is quite unique. 

I just love the juxtaposition between the old arches of the mosque and the gothic arches of the cathedral. 

The cathedral's altar is quite imposing.

From the Mezquita, we went to explore Córdoba's Jewish quarter. One of the three remaining medieval Spanish synagogues is in this part of Córdoba (the other two are in Toledo). It is a very small space, but there is beautiful plaster work. Around the corner from the synagogue is an informative (if text-heavy) museum of Jewish life in medieval Spain. The highlight for me, other than the fascinating room about the Spanish inquisition, was the room dedicated to the medieval diet.

This is Maimonides, all around awesome philosopher.

The plasterwork and calligraphy in the synagogue is not too terribly different from the designs and calligraphy in the Mezquita. It is just another reminder that despite religious and alphabetic differences, medieval Andalusians had one culture.

It is no secret that El Ejido, though it seems to be a large city, can be a little bit claustrophobic. As we walked from the Jewish quarter down to the river, Abby and I started to enjoy the thought of Córdoba as a place to work and live. We love the old city, the 19th century neighborhoods are beautiful, and the rest of the city seems quite livable. The only downsides we know of thus far are: (1) Córdoba is hot in the summers -- terribly, terribly hot. and (2) When we looked up movie showtimes, the only movie currently playing in VOSE (Original Voice, Subtitled in Spanish - as opposed to dubbed) was the 50 Shades of Grey sequel. What a terribly disappointing discovery. Also, I'm no expert, but I feel like 50 Shades Darker just isn't a film that you need to see with the original dialogue. It's not like your in for an incredibly nuanced script. But, again, I am not an expert.

The Puente Romana from inside the Torre Calahorra.

A dilapidated medieval watermill? I need a photo of that! Abby, get in the photo!

Later in the day, we met up with Chema and his wife, Carmen, for a paseo and some lunch. Carmen's specialty is Spanish philology, so we all got along quite nicely. The lead us to la posada del potro. As I wrote on Instagram:

Today we visited the Posada del Potro in Córdoba, Spain. It is a 15th century Corral de Vecinos, a type of apartment block that also served as an open air theatre. This corral was well known enough to garner a mention in Don Quijote. I enjoyed imagining what it would be like to see La vida es sueño or El perro del hortelano in a space like this.

This is a classic renaissance theater situation: if you are rich you get to watch comfortably from the mezzanine level; if you're poor you get to be packed like a sardines on the ground level.

For lunch, Carmen and Chema introduced us to some "typical Cordovan food": Patatas Bravas (a staple of Spanish cuisine consisting of fried potatoes with a spicy sauce -- I'm pretty sure this is the only spicy dish that spaniards eat on a regular basis... and it really isn't that spicy), Salmorejo (a cold soup made of tomato, vinegar, bread, and garlic that is garnished with jamón and hardboiled eggs), and Rabo de Toro (A cordovan specialty, oxtail). It was so delicious, and incredibly well priced! Cordovans eat well.

Chema, Carmen, Abby and I at dessert.

After dinner, we walked into a bakery where Abby and I saw our first chef's hat in situ. We also ate cheesecake and drank water from the faucet that tasted suspiciously like the well water from my childhood home. We walked by the remains of a roman temple from the first century and then walked through the city to a park that sits where the the edge of the Roman city. In the park, the ruins of the main Roman road that lead to the city have been dug out for the whole world to see. We have officially walked on a Roman road! It pains me to admit it, but I got a little giddy.

Apparently this temple was gifted to the Cordovan Romans to get them back on Rome's good side after a particularly gruesome period of civil war.

This road is like 15 feet below current ground level. And it is pretty darn awesome.

Speaking of old buildings, Cordoba has a large 13th century church in every neighborhood. When the Christians retook Cordoba, the wanted to make sure that bells would sound throughout the city. Today, they make for a fun addition to exploring the city.

This 13th century church has the distinction (according to my sources) of having the only octagonal tower in all of Andalusia.

Just look at that rose window. *Purrs like a tiger*

On Sunday morning we went to the Bullfighting Museum of Cordoba. There was a very specific audience in mind when they created that museum, and it wasn't us. As we left the museum, we realized that it was really meant for aging fans of bullfighting who want to relive Cordoba's bullfighting glory days. However, there are two (actually pretty impressive) headache-inducing multi-projector movie theaters and a really beautiful collection of turn of the century advertisements.

That's no bull.

On Sunday afternoon Abby and I checked out the Palacio de Viana, a manor house that has been evolving for centuries. It is a great example of Cordoba's famous patios. In May there is a festival where patios all over the city are open to visitors. However, we came in February, so the Palacio de Viana was our best option. The gardens were beautiful.

The Reception Courtyard

The Courtyard of the Cats

The Courtyard of the Orange Trees

The Courtyard of the Bars

Courtyard of the Madama

Courtyard of the Columns

The Garden 

The Courtyard of the Gardeners

The Courtyard of the Chapel

Abby and I just sent in our application to be Auxiliares de Conversación for the 2017-2018 school year. We requested to stay in Andalucia, but to be placed in schools in a bigger city. We are now just waiting to find out where we are going to go. If we were to get jobs Córdoba, I think we would be very happy.

Paris, Amsterdam and London

In Spain, Christmas vacations are longer than we typically have in Idaho; although Spaniards are very into Christmas and New Years (and all of the days in between), the most important holiday here is El Dia de los Reyes Magos (Epiphany or Three Kings' Day). So Christmas vacations typically last from Christmas Eve until after Epiphany on January 6. 

Since Abby and I had all of that time off, we figured we would aprovecharlo (take advantage of it) by seeing other parts of western Europe. I had promised Abby that I would take her to Paris, and in the end we decided to hit up Amsterdam and London as well. After all, we had plenty of time!

We were lucky enough to get a Paris Museum Pass from our family for Christmas. In spite of cold weather and a nasty flu, we saw many beautiful things. I especially loved the Cluny Museum and the Picasso Museum. We also ate a ton of ethnic food, because it is so much cheaper than French fare, and because we are always craving good hand-pulled Chinese noodles or a steaming plate of Pad See Ew. We did, however, splurge on a dinner at a nice little French bistro where they sat us next to the radiator; Abby ate a slow-roasted leg of lamb with a pumpkin puree and I enjoyed a plate of steak tartare with fries. 

Walking around in the Netherlands was very strange after having spent three months in Spain. Dutch is intoned a lot like English; as we walked around, we were confused by how similar it sounded to English gibberish! We enjoyed a quiet New Year's Eve in the Amsterdamse Bos and we rode the Amsterdam Metro illegally on New Year's Day. Our credit card wouldn't work in the ticket machine in Amstelveen, and there was no way to pay in cash. If we didn't catch the metro right then, we would miss our train back to Paris. So we just snuck on the train and nervously ate granola. When we got to the turnstiles at the central station, we told the guard that we had come from Amstelveen and we needed to pay. He just opened the turnstile for us and told us to have a Happy New Year. Thanks to him, we made our train.

In London, I was amazed at how many signs there were. Do this - Don't do that. Sometimes there would be a sign with another sign below it explaining the first sign. In places where there are no signs, there are advertisements. We knew going into it that the English drive on the left side, but for some reason we hadn't realized that the habit also extended to staircases and sidewalks. We almost bumped into quite a few people during our four days in London. Abby and I love theatre, and we haven't been able to see anything in English for a while, so we bought tickets to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It was incredible. We highly recommend it (it was one of those plays where a half an hour after you leave the theatre, you still feel like you are going to cry).

It feels good to be back in our own apartment and living our El Ejido routine, but it's safe to say that our 2016 Christmas vacation was one we'll never forget.