The one with the field trip to Cordoba

Friday my second and third year bilingual students took a trip to Cordoba for their science classes. I was going to go, and Chus was nice enough to offer to let Marissa come along with us. It was perfect because it let us leave straight from there for Granada, our destination for the weekend.  

We left Zafra relatively early, around 8:30, but it wasn't too bad. The countryside is beautiful right now because of all the rain we have had and because it hasn't gotten too hot yet. It is absolutely beautiful in Spain right now! I have pulled out the sandals and short sleeve shirts, and it feels glorious for my skin to finally see the sun again.  On the bus we enjoyed the serenading of a groups of my second year girls.  Two of my third years begged me to talk to them out of boredom. Last week one of them told me they would miss me when I was gone. Honestly I was shocked; I didn't think I had made an impact on a single one of my third years. It as definitely nice to hear.

Anyways, we arrived at the botanical gardens without too much hoopla. First stop there was a museum dedicated to plants role in culture and how our use or them has changed over the years. It was interesting to learn more about some of the main crops of the area, olives, cork trees, wheat, and saffron. They also talked about the influences of other cultures that have changed Spanish food and cultivation over the years. For example, paella is probably the most typical Spanish dish, but the rice is due to Arabic influences and the tomato is from the Americas. Pretty cool! I was so proud of my kids for being so quiet and engaged; I was pleasantly surprised because there were so many of them. 

Next we hit up some greenhouses about plants in the Americas. Let's just say I didn't really recognize any of them except the banana plants (thanks dad) and the cacti. I think it was more focused on Latin and South America because there didn't seem to be any of the deciduous forest plants that we have in so much of the United States. Back outside they had a cool part with some spice plants like mint and lemon-balm. I felt knowledgable! Finally we walked through the gardens, and the kids took notes on some of try different plant we saw. I think they have to do a project on one of them or else I have no idea why they were so motivated with the note-taking.

Then it was time for Marissa and I to go to the bus station, so we said goodbye and started the trek. It was HOT! But mostly because we aren't used to any heat. We arrived in time for an excellent lunch of paella and bacalao pizaarón, which was fried cod with a sort of tomato/onion pizza-y sauce. Both were excellent and left me in excellent shape for my nap on the bus.  What struck me most coming into Granada was the towering Sierra Nevada mountains, still snow-covered and white in the distance. At first, I didn't even know what it was that was making the mountains white lol. Everyone talks about how hot Andalucia is, so it is easy to forget that there are freezing mountains where people are snowboarding right now.

We made it to Granada with no difficulties, other than some drooling on my part. It was around 7 by the time we got to the hostel, so we figured out our stuff and went to find dinner, subway. I always feel a bit guilty when we eat at places like that, but sometimes you just want the quick and familiar. After we walked over to the main street for tapas to get some drinks. I had some tinto de verano, a slightly fizzy red-wine-ish drink, which came with tortilla española and bread with a tomato spread. Yay for Granada's famous free tapas! Then we were ready to relax at the hostel, full and satisfied.