I would like to thank the TV show “Girls” for that lovely title. I know, the creater (writer AND PRODUCER) may or may not have came up with this quote as well. BUT, it still gives me inspiration and reminds me daily of why I am here in Spain.
This past two weekends have been pretty adventurous for me (well then again, my daily life is pretty adventurous with Paella parties at school, neighbors bringing your mail, random strangers telling you their life stories…You get the picture). The weekend of October 19th, 18th, and 17th, I visited the city of Málaga. Many of my friends from my program have been placed there, and surprisingly all of them were actually in town! So I had a great time catching up with some awesome friends!
FRIENDS
Shenanigans at its best.
Even though I love history, and almost any museum, I’m not a huge fan of art history. Or art in general. I don’t take it seriously enough. WELL that all changed with the Pablo Picasso. Most of you probably don’t know this (cause let’s be real, if I don’t know it then really no one else will), but Málaga is the birthplace of Picasso. Picasso is EVERYWHERE in Málaga, right down to his parents’ apartment being a historical landmark (que chulo!)! It was actually very interesting to learn about his life (all of the museums had quotes from friends, relatives, coworkers, and even himself) and his influences, and it actually put a lot of his artwork into perspective for me. Don’t hold your breath yet, I STILL don’t know what perspective means. There was one specific quote from Picasso himself that stuck out to me. Picasso was explaining that he doesn’t want to make normal art, he wants to make art that is talked about, exclaimed about, and is just different. And that is what he did, and he didn’t care what anyone else thought.
Which brings me back to my quote: “All adventurous women do.”
I didn’t decide to come to Spain just for my “vacation,” I came because I was ready for a new adventure, a new chapter in my life, challenges, and a new perspective on life. And because “all adventurous women do” these things period without thinking of opinions of others.
Picasso Quote that explains what I want to do everything…oh wait, I pretty much get to do this everyday.
This last weekend, I traveled to what could be the most beatutiful city I’ve been to yet. I know, I shouldn’t be saying that so soon, buuuuuut Códoba tops the list as of now. Córdoba is located in the north of spain as well and is home to the Mezquita. Which has a very interesting history. The Mezquita was originally the Church of St. Vincent and then the Arabs came in and Abd-Rahman I bought half of it and turned it into a Mosque for his people to pray. Soon that area became too small and Abd-Rahman bought the other half and erected a whole new entire Mosque. In the present time, the building is a functional Cathedral, but the striped arches are still there. I find it very interesting how two religions that will never agree the other is correct could still worship under the same roof. When we visited it was early in the morning when groups are not allowed. It was muy tranquillo (tranquil, relaxing) place:
Man look at that background.
Literally no one was there.
Along with getting in touch with our Arab side, we also got in touch with our Roman side as well:
Melissa and I taking in the beautiful view on the Puente Romano!
WHAT UP ROMAN RUINS? This will NEVER get old.
And then we got in touch with Melissa’s Jewish roots with a tour of the Synagogue (which was built in 1315!!!!) and La Juderia (the Jewish neighborhood):
We also got in touch with Melissa’s Jewish heritage! Córdoba is also home to one of the largest jewish population in Spain back in the day! This is one of the few Synagogues still standing in Spain.
You know when you are in the Jewish neighborhood when you stumble upon the blue and white houses!
A surprising thing I learned is that Spain had one of Europe’s biggest Jewish communities. The Jews created an alliance with the Muslims after the Visigoths began persecuting them for their beliefs and way of life (like that isn’t a common thing in history…). There was a Jewish “leader,” (Moseh ben Maimon for those who are super into history like me :)) who brought a group of people to Córdoba, and just asked the Muslim people to ignore their habits and the Jewish people would ignore theirs. If only the world REALLY worked that way…
These past two weekends have been a blast, and are only the beginning of this new chapter of my life:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
La Vida Loca 
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