Córdoba

Guadalquivir River, looking at the Mezquita and Cátedral de Córdoba

Outside of la Mezquita
Inside la Mezquita
The Cathedral of Córdoba (right) inside of the Mezquita (left)
La Mezquita

Granada

Inside the Alhambra
The Alhambra
Alhambra
Granada
The Alhambra from Mirador San Nicolás

Nerja

Cueva de Nerja (Cave of Nerja)
Aqueducto de Águila (Roman ruin)
Beaches of Nerja
A view of the water....

Sevilla

Flamenco
Real Alcázar
Amphitheatre at las Ruinas de Itálica
Las Ruinas de Itálica
La Catedral de Sevilla

All good things must come to an end...

In search of Mexican food, I instead settled for a caramel flavored coffee beverage, and an egg and bacon sandwich. Being that Cuban is the more dominant food in the state of Florida, this was good enough I figured, as I finished up and headed to buy a Cosmopolitan magazine. Ahh. The good old United States of America. Not sure if it was me, or the language I had been used to hearing for the 5 months I was abroad, but the two times I approached a store counter in the airport, I mis-understood what the cashier asked me (in English), and had to ask them to clarify. Regardless, as I wandered through the Miami International Airport on my all-important mission to satisfy my appetite, I simply couldn´t wipe the smile off my face. I loved knowing how to interact with random people naturally without having to think or adapt to cultural situations. I was happy, fulfilled, and over-joyed to be heading home to surprise my father for Father´s Day. After all, he traveled over 5000 miles to visit me doing what I love, which goes without saying was waaaay out of his comfort zone (but something that he enjoyed), and certainly a first for him. In my eyes, there was no better way to return the love than to come home early and be with him and the rest of my family on Father´s Day, and with my friends for the rest of the summer.

I have a hard time processing what I have done the past five months although one thing that is certain, is that I left happy and having fulfilled a life long dream. To sum it up, I went to Spain on a mission: to live my dream of studying abroad, and to learn more Spanish. Leaving, I now realized that I´ve accomplished so much more, and have changed in so many little ways that make the experience one that has changed my life for the better forever. No, although I didn´t meet the man of my dreams as many had predicted and as I had secretly hoped, I have grown, and in fact, grown up even more. (Well….except for allowing my parents to spoil me during our travels together J hehehe).

In my eyes, life can´t get much better than pursuing a dream while taking a risk, learning, meeting new life long friends, re-affirming the love for the friends who mean the world to me at home, traveling with my best friend Karen in Italy and then with my parents for three weeks while ending the experience traveling solo and learning to appreciate myself and my own capabilities and self worth. Although very difficult at times to be away from home because of all of the exciting things happening in my absence, I am thankful that so many people close to my heart had such memorable changes in their lives since I left home in January.

One of my very best friends from college, Lisa Mispley-Fortier and her husband Craig, gave birth to their son Marcus the day before Easter, shortly after having lived through a memorable time in Lisa´s career, helping guide her Gonzaga Bulldogs to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Another best friend Gib and her husband Adam, survived raising their adorable son during his first year of life, and I was able to be there in spirit and through Skype to watch my ¨first born nephew,¨ grow, and test his mother, with big blue eyes and a bright personality J. In other baby news, I´ll never forget the day, while studying for my last final with my ¨neska¨ Lisa Brown in my dirty piso on Calle Fuenterrabia, when my brother Skyped me and told me that he and Brandie were expecting a baby of their own in September. I never expected to come home counting down the days to meet my first blood niece or nephew, but I can tell you that this has already changed our family forever, as we all anxiously await the arrival of Baby White.

After being home for a month, my exhaustion has somewhat passed, and I am starting to remember little by little all of the places that I visited and the things that I saw. When my Mom left from Lisbon the first week of June, I set off on a journey of my own….to do a little solo traveling for the first (and probably) last time. After a teary goodbye at the Lisbon Airport, I returned to our hotel, re-packed my big backpack, and headed for the metro a few blocks away. I hopped on a bus that took me on an 8 hour ride to Faro, Portugal, where I transferred to another that took me back into España, where I arrived in Sevilla few hours later. Although I had been to Sevilla in February, this time I was determined to make good use of the spectacular weather, which was definitely sub par in February, as in, raining so much that I could hardly take pictures and returned to my room each night with wet socks. I wound my way from the bus station to the cathedral area, and checked into a hostal. I needed the four days in Sevilla to recuperate from the every-two days-new hotel that I had been living for the previous three weeks, and to truly embrace the Andalusian style of life while visiting the majority of places mentioned in the Spanish II textbook I use in my classroom. I spent an afternoon reading in the Parque María Luisa, another visiting the Real Alcázar Palace, and the last proudly figuring out the city bus system and taking one to the Ruinas de Itálica, or Roman ruins, a half hour bus ride outside of Sevilla. Evenings were consumed with the evening paseo, or walk, through the Barrio de Santa Cruz otherwise known as the former Jewish Quarter, a glass of Sangría, and on the final evening, a flamenco show. For having visited Sevilla for the third time, it´s vibrancy aids in the campaign for one of the most beautifully lit cities at night that I have ever visited.

From Sevilla my mission was simple: I wanted to lay on a beach. Given that I was already in the south, I headed for Spain´s infamous Costa del Sol. More specifically, I had chosen the resorty town of Nerja as per Ricky Boy Steve´s suggestions. Upon arrival however, I was confused as to whether I was on the coast of Spain, or in a geriatric community of England. There were so many English people in the town and running the stores and restaurants, that it was impossible to speak Spanish. However, I was fortunate to spend two glorious days on the small, slightly pebbly beaches of Nerja, soaking in the rays, listening to my IPOD, and catching up on some well needed pleasure reading. On a quest for exercise the second morning I was there, I walked several miles to the Cueva de Nerja, a cave discovered in the late 1950´s, that essentially put this small town on the map. En route, I stopped at the Roman Aqueducto del Águila, and of course the grocery store to buy a bottle of lemon flavored 7 UP ish sparkling water that I had become addicted to called Gaseosa, if I recall correctly. I also used this opportunity while staying in a hostal room by myself to tackle the chore of doing laundry in the bathroom sink, a task which I had previously mastered and perfected by substituting normal bar soap with detergent: frugal and functional.

The R & R of Nerja energized me for my final two stops in two of the most well known cities of Spain due in particular to two very historic sites: The Alhambra of Granada and the Mezquita of Córdoba. Staying in the heart of the historic center of Granada, I found it to be different from other towns I had previously visited. It is home to a marvelously restored and protected old town near the cathedral where I let myself essentially ¨get lost¨ because at some point through the wandering of the pedestrian/moped winding without-a-purpose streets, I would end up recognizing a landmark. My first evening took me atop the city to two ¨miradores,¨ or ¨lookouts.¨ One of them had an astonishing view of the extended city itself, and the other looked directly across at the awe inspiring Alhambra. Many, including tourists of all ages intertwined with locals, gathered to share the scenery. It is also told that even President Clinton brought his family to the Mirador de San Nicolás to share with them one of his favorite places in Europe from his traveling days during his college years.

Day two in Granada was a day I had been waiting for. The Alhambra, perhaps one of the most recognized names in historical monuments in all of Spain, awaited me. In fact, it is so frequented that an advance reservation online is recommended to lessen the waiting time. My window to enter the palace was at 3:30. It took about 45 minutes to hike the hill up to the Alhambra grounds, consisting of the Palace of Charles V, the Generalife gardens, and the Alcazaba fort. Originally destined to be a military fort constructed by the Moorish rulers during the mid 14^th century, some portions of the Alhambra were overtaken by Christian rulers during the Reconquista by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492. Infamous for being Spain´s most significant display of Islamic architecture and therefore a UNESCO World Heritage site, this intricacy of the art and architecture of this landmark leaves lasting impressions on all those who visit, including myself. I left the city almost unsure of how to process what I had seen, and trying hard to imagine people inhabiting the Alhambra and being fortunate to live within the walls of such an amazing place.

The last stop of the my solo adventure before heading back to Madrid to hop on a flight home was Córdoba, for no other reason but to visit the Mezquita, the images of which clutter every guidebook and textbook related to the Spanish language and/or history. I reserved a hostal that was none other than steps away from the enormous walls of the Mezquita. Although not much else drew me to the town, I did enjoy the Casco Histórico, or old part of town, which was home to a fabulous Andalusian meal consisting of the Córdoba version of Gazpacho, Salmorejo, a cold creamy vegetable type soup. Being that my one full day in Córdoba was a Sunday, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and visit the Mezquita by attending mass in the Catédral de Córdoba, or the cathedral that was constructed in the center of the Mosque during none other than the Reconquista. During the mass, I had to keep reminding myself of where I was, and with one glance to the left or right, it was simple to see the architectural beauty of both the Moorish and Christian influences. With my prayers being said, I left the Mezquita, bought an ice cream, and set on its steps to reflect upon the experiences I had been through. I was fulfilled. I had traveled for five weeks living out of a suitcase after living abroad for four, visited some of the most famous cathedrals, landmarks, and cities in Western Europe, traveled with family and friends, and accomplished something I´d always wanted to do. It was time to go home. It was time to return to my ¨other¨ life back home, and see the family and friends I love so much, and to begin to mentally prepare for my other love besides traveling: teaching.