So this is gonna be a random assortment of pictures from the last couple weeks...

Starting with a flamenco concert we went to which was part of the festival of the patios

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And then jumping ahead to my visit to nottingham to see amy!!  her dorm room...

 

 outside her dorm

 

 

 

 

 

 me and Tamara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 so in addition to seeing amy, it was an Incan VentureCo reunion...I saw a few people from the group that I traveled with in South America (starting with Ellie who I sawe in Granada on the way out)

 

 Sash, me, Tamara, Rob and Amy (our honorary incan)

 

 And I saw Merle who I went to school with in Thailand!!

 

 This is a bar we went to which used to be a church, but has been converted to a cool place for a night out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then I took the train down to visit Les and Rich which was soooo nice!

 

 And took a city tour of Bath on the way out...on one of those big red double decker buses :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And then back in Cordoba...The guy on the far right is Allison's boyfriend Josh who is visiting for a couple weeks.  We're taking him out to some of our favorite places. 
(left to right: kesari, maggie, caitlyn who also lives with maggie and i, allison, me, starrett, dorothy and Josh)

 

 On the first night of Feria we went to a concert of one of the most popular band in spain: El Canto del Loco.  It was raining.  These guys next to use were really funny...and everyone was using umbrellas to locate their friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 That thing in the background is the fake mezquita which they've built for feria which lights up at night, and is really cool.

 

 

 

 maggie, my concert buddy

 

 like i said, raining.

 

 so much in fact that it became dangerous for them to use any of the stage lights and had to turn on the floodlights that light the stadium we were in.  it was such a cool concert because there was the mezquita in the background, fireworks goin on off to the left, and immense rays of lightening all around.  verrry cool!

 

 mezquita

 

 

 

 

 

 the other thing that feria kinda revolvs around is food.  so we made gazpacho.  that's blended cucumber, lotsa tomatoes, olive oil, vinagre, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, other spices, maybe other veggies...really good and easy to make!

 
and you blend bread in with it

 

 mmmmm

 

 caitlyn and maggie enjoying it in our patio

 

 Feria!  have you ever seen so many candied apples!!  and check out the novelty chocolates off to the left...

 

 the process...

 

 

 

 sprinkles!

 

 we got the good old chocolate with nuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 you can win legs of ham!

 

 waffles

 

 

 

 we went on both of those rides.  the big one with the two arms spins around, and the things on the end spin around too, flipping you upside down.

 

 

 

 adorable little kids in their flamenco outfits

 

 

 

 flowers.

 

 they basically construct a whole city complete with real stone streets, street signs, cashpoints etc for this crazy week (and 2 weekends)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 and some of the 'casetas' have really walls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 feria is for folks of all ages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i would have killed for that dress if i were that little girl.  wait, i still would... 

 

 making potato chips.  mmmm.  didn't have any though

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 waffle!

 

 with white and dark chocolate.  yes, it's all over my face.  it got worse.

 

 this was trying to show how the people dance the sevillana in a group, like going in a circle...

 

 

 

 getting light in the morning...

 

 so more food...no bake cookes.  yumm!!  butter+sugar+chocolate+granola=delicious

 

 oh wait more food.  we made dumplings.

 

 

 

 

 

 really really good.

 

 oh that's right.  more food.  snails!  although i had a really bad experience the first time i went...they're really good, and the sauce is really good, and it's the best place in cordoba to get them, but i ate this pepper that numbed the whole inside of my throat and mouth and took away my voice and i literrally, for reals, could not speak, and thought i was gonna vomit.  and this happened to the girl who doesn't even like spicy in the first place.  so when we went back for the second time i tried to get over my aversion to them just based on that experience, but i had one and after that couldn't even look at them because i thought i was gonna be sick just from the thought/smell of it after what happened the time before.  Can anyone think of anything else that this happens with??

 

 this would be allison's charming boyfriend.  :)

 

 feria again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 the police came to break up the party because we weren't really supposed to be in the fire lane..,

 

 

 

 

 

 maggie, me, caitlyn, josh, allison, kesari.  this fountain is perfect for meeting up with people, resting and for sure people watching!

 

 this was a really lucky by chance picture...the point was the people dressed up in the background, but i managed to inadvertently get the guy with his son, and the other couple walking arm in arm.  awwww

 

 

 

 

 

 spanish girls...

 

 

 

 in the ferris wheel.  keep this nice picture in mind when you get to another one that's a few below...

 

 

 

 allison, josh and kesari in the next bucket over

 

 

 

 you can see the white casetas on the left

 

 feria really is quite big.  coz that's only like half of it.

 

 ok this is the horrible one.  you should all feel honored that i'm willing to share this with you.  but i find it hilariously funny.  it's my laptop's desktop so i get to laugh at least everytime i turn my comp on or off, or when i want a break from working!

 

 

 

 we went on this too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 swings went pretty high!

 

 Starrett won this for me!  Actually I dunno if it was intended for me or if i just took it, or if it was his or his brothers, but anyhow, it's mine now!!  He's named 'Tuga' for tortuga.  Thanks Juan!

 

 And this is that big ride that was next to the ferris wheel in an earlier picture with the 2 arms that go around.  it was really fun!!

 

 that's all for now...Although I have another night of feria pictures still to put up and we're going again tonight so there should be more good ones, especially since tonight is the last night!!
I'm in denial about the fact that I'm leaving Cordoba in 3 weeks...and I really can't believe that it's so close to the end.  And i'm realllly sad that Maggie is going back to the states in 2 weeks!! I'm sooo glad I'm gonna be traveling before going home though...not sure what I would do if I knew I was going home in 3 weeks!  ahh!  I've got the whole summer to look forward to still.  And finals...grrr.  But after that my friend from high school Marc is coming to visit me in Cordoba for a few days, then we are going to Portugal to meet up with Amy to see Lisbon and Faro (supposedly the 2 best places in Portugal...Faro is on the south coast and is known for it's beaches...).  And then when Amy and I go off to Morocco Marc will be goin to London and then home.  And then Amy and I are coming back to Spain for a huge 9 day music festival, the to Switzerland, then I'm traveling with Mom and Dad and hitting up Prague, then England for my oldest cousin Sam's wedding.  wooohooo!!! Loving Europe.  Miss you all and would love to hear from you!!
xx