HAPPY MONDAY EVERYBODY!

Most people dread Mondays, but today, I am thrilled to start a new week. Right now, I'm in Mox, a place that has been on my list for a while. They have SALADS!!! Now, if you've ever been to Spain, you'd know that healthy food is hard to find. They're all about that meat, cheese, and bread life. I'm so thankful that my host mom makes healthy and delicious dinners. But still, I'm used to eating more salad in general. And after this past week of *rewarding* myself with tons of unhealthy food, this lunch was needed.

If you're curious, I ordered the "Granada" which had spinach, sweet potato, carrot, feta, chicken, apples, nuts, and a raspberry dressing. I'm eating it now! It reminds me of Nalley Fresh, one of my favorite salad places in Maryland. Also, there's a cute dog here chilling with me. I'll say it again, happy Monday!!!

Last week was my hardest week here yet. It was midterms week. The tough part was that I had three midterms on Friday. I spent the weekend and Monday studying for my literature exam. We had ten pieces of reading so far, and I thought we would get tested on all ten. Well, she tested us on two..But it's better to study too much than too little.

Oh, forgot to mention..not sure what happened, but I fell out of my bed in the middle of the night on Tuesday. I have hardwood floors in my room, so it didn't feel very good!!! The story doesn't end there - for some reason I didn't hear my alarm, and I slept through my first class. Thank goodness that was not my class with an exam.. I don't think I've slept through class since high school. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed I guess.. ha

At Tulane, my midterms are usually spaced out pretty well. So, it was a challenge to study so much in such little time. I can't wait until finals, when I get to do it all again, but have 10-page essays assigned as well! (that was sarcastic if anyone didn't pick up on that) My Prado exam is in November. Not sure how I'd handle another exam on top of what I already had. But some people were in that situation, so I consider myself lucky. It was also a challenge to take so many exams in Spanish. Lots of writing, lots of reading, lots of thinking. Glad it's over!

Now let's transition to a happier subject..this weekend, I went to Córdoba with my program. It was a nice way to celebrate the end of midterms. We took a bus, so it was 5 or 6 hours each way. I was able to nap though!

We stayed in a hostel with 3 or 4 people in each room. It was pretty different than the Málaga hostel. It felt more like a kibbutz that I stayed in on Birthright in Israel. However, we didn't spend much time there -- we were on the go! Our first stop was my favorite: the mosque (la mezquita). I remember learning about the Great Mosque of Córdoba in my Spanish Culture class and seeing photos of it in the textbook. But dang, a textbook doesn't show how large and beautiful it truly is. To give some background, the mosque dates back to the tenth century under Abd ar-Rahman III, one of the greatest rulers in Islamic history. When Córdoba was conquered during La Reconquista, the center of the mosque was converted into a Catholic Cathedral. The first glimpse was exciting. The space is full of supportive pillars, with striped, horseshoe-shaped arches above them. Apparently, it's red and white, but it appears more orange and white with the sunlight. Another highlight was seeing the synagogue (la sinagoga) and walking through la Judería, Córdoba's Jewish Quarter. Shiri and I ate lunch at a Sephardic restaurant called Casa Mazal. The food was delicious and the setting was gorgeous. Even though the weather is getting colder, Córdoba made it feel like springtime. Each street had tons of colorful flowerpots with beautiful, overflowing flowers. It put me in such a good mood! I also loved the yellow and white themed walls, something I saw a lot in Sevilla, another Andalusian city.

All in all, it was a long week. But I pushed through finals and was able to celebrate in an awesome new city with great people! Hope everyone has a great Monday! ;)