Domingo- Cerrado

Even in Córdoba, the city of the convivencia of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, Sunday (domingo) is most certainly the day of rest. Nearly everything is closed, including supermarkets, retail stores, and most other businesses. There are only a few cafés and public services open, and even those are hard to come by.

I went out for a run this morning- a cool 80 degrees- and even the busiest streets were quiet. There were some people in the park, but it was mostly young families walking to a playground with strollers and little kids in tow.  Córdoba isn't big, there is always something going on, and between that and my settling in here and finding my way into a new routine, my days have been high-intensity and relatively busy. It was nice to feel some stillness around me.

I also had some nice connections to home today- thank goodness for technology! I had a long Skype with my mom and got to talk to both my cats, Monster and Birdie. My mom left the computer on for a minute while she went to look for something, so I even had some one-on-one time with my little Bird Brain:

I also had time to sit down and revise what my weekly schedule is going to look like. I enjoy having classes first thing in the morning, and then being motivated to make the rest of my day equally as productive as the first part, but that's not how Spanish classes are scheduled. I suppose coming home for lunch mid-afternoon and having classes well into the evening hours is just another part of my cultural experience.

Around noontime Kim, Yanet, Sarah and I went next door to Caballerizas Reales to see the Andalucia horse show that is going on this weekend. We only stayed for about 15 minutes, but it was pretty impressive to see the size of these show horses and the traditional costume the handlers were wearing.

From there I decided to wander off on my own to the Feria de Mariscos (seafood fair) that I heard about from my host-mom Maricarmen. It was about a half hour walk, but I got a yummy fish sandwich and learned my way around a part of the city that I hadn't seen before. It was also a great procrastination tactic. But alas, homework was still waiting when I got home.

For the past few hours I've been sitting on my bed reading Spanish Constitutional Law... in Spanish. It's relatively straightforward material, but making sure I understand the details is proving to be quite time consuming. I managed to finish Chapter 1, but Chapter 2 is still waiting for me. Kim and I decided to procrastinate by counting the total number of days that we have class this semester: a whopping 37, minus however many we end up skipping to extend weekend travel, etc. Then we decided that if we procrastinate any longer we'll miss the semester entirely, so we should do work. But...

It's dinner time here- 10pm- and then I'll likely go get some frozen yogurt to supplement the meal before (maybe) doing a bit more work. After all, lunes is the day after domingo, and that means I have to be ready for classes.