Summer´s here but, sadly, so are the exams!! – My weekend-Córdoba.

I must say it´s been a crazy week for me. We´re in our busy season at work – exam season – ahhh! With the official exams starting in just a little over three weeks tensions are certainly at a high. Overnight our workload, which was already quite hectic, seems to have doubled; between the mock exams, which are going on at the moment, corrections and students –  only a handful, if only  they were all so good! –  doing extra work in their own time, it´s all been a little chaotic to say the least!

It´s funny, when you´re a student, you only focus on what you´re going through in the lead up to exams, you seem to remain oblivious to just how much it affects your teachers as well as you! At times, I feel as though I´m probably more nervous and concerned for most of my students that are sitting exams than they are for themselves! It´s strange, you get to know your students so well throughout your time with them that you cannot avoid feeling for them when it comes to this time of year! And, with Summer finally here – being in the high 30s and early 40s all week – it´s even harder than ever to get students motivated to study for their impending exams. I have to admit, studying for exams is the last thing I´d want to do in this weather, I´d much rather be outside frolicking in the sun, so can´t say I blame them for their lack of motivation!

The good news is: the weather is finally good and, what´s more, it´s here to stay! Waking up every morning to the sun shining on your face just makes such a difference to your day. However, I do find that it´s getting harder and harder to make myself go to work in the glorious weather. Every day, on my walk to school, I can´t help but envy all the people I walk past. People, who are sitting outside in the many cafés and bars along my route, soaking up the sun and relaxing. Especially, when I know that in a few minutes time, I´ll be indoors for the day, working and every now and then, when I get the chance, staring out at the beautiful sunshine right outside my window! Just as well I love my job or I don´t know if I could do it!

This weekend, due to the mock exams, we were working on Saturday .However, the minute I finished work, having already spent the first 6 days of summer indoors, I was determined to make the most of the rest of my weekend and spend it outside in the heat of the summer sun!

Thankfully, my plan was a success! Once I finished work, accompanied by two of my friends, I headed to a little restaurant with a beautiful outdoor seating area. Once there, I indulged in a delicious spinach and goats cheese pastry and several glasses of water, a poor attempt to quench my thirst in the heat! Once our stomachs were nicely satisfied we decided to buy some magazines – nothing better than some mindless reading after a tough day of work! –  an ice-cream and some drinks to take with us to one of the many charming parks Cordoba has to offer, in the hopes of finding a nice tree to relax under. Beautiful!

Later that evening, while walking home to get ready to meet up with our friends, we happened upon this marching band, dressed to the nines in their sailor like attire, slowly making their way down the street. They were closely followed by priests and people from religious orders carrying canvases and candles and, behind them, were school children in their uniforms holding candles, marching to the beat of the drums under the watchful eyes of their teachers! Fantastic – I have no idea what it was for, but, if I had to guess, going by the time of year and the fact that the children were involved, I would imagine the celebration had something to do with their communion.  Anyway, whatever the reason, it was it was a fantastic sight to stumble across! That has to be one of the things I love the most about Córdoba, it´s full of surprises, you never know what´s waiting for you behind each corner!

Once refreshed after our long day we made our way to the Corredera to see one of the May shows. Throughout the month of May; the Corredera hosts several flamenco events which celebrate this much-loved Spanish tradition! Once there, we sat outside for hours sipping on our cool drinks and soaking up the atmosphere. Unfortunately though, we didn´t get to witness any dancing. The show we ended up seeing was only a singing event. It was certainly a worthwhile experience but I couldn´t help but be disappointed; I really wanted to see some dancing! At roughly one o´clock, my bed started to call out to me; so I decided to call it a night and headed home.

After a good nights sleep I woke up this morning refreshed and ready to take on the sun! My friend and I, seeing as it was such a beautiful day, decided to head to the Botanical Gardens. We´d been threatening to go there for so long but had never got around to going, mainly due to the fact that they are located at the opposite side of the city to us. Sadly, due to the lazy mentality that comes hand in hand with Sundays, we didn´t arrive at the gardens untill quarter to two, arriving only to find out that the gardens close at three! We decided, after trekking all that way in the heat, that we may as well go in and see as much as we could and, that if we wanted, we could go back to see the rest another day! When we got the ticket office, we were greeted by this extremely friendly man who, after pointing out that the gardens closed at three, let us go into the gardens without paying the entrance fee!

While the gardens were beautiful they were not what I expected in the slightest! I had expected to find a huge manicured garden filled with exotic flowers, flowers that I had never seen before, when in fact, while it was huge and manicured, it mainly consisted of trees! However, to my delight, the tress were beautiful and there were several butterflies fluttering around the place to add to its beauty! I will write a post on the gardens during the week, if I get a chance that is, to share their wonder and beauty with all of you!

After that we decided to grab some food from the local deli and head to our favourite park, Vista Alegre, to sit under a tree and cool down while eating our rolls. What better way to spend a sunny day? It seemed as though we weren´t the only ones to think of this though as we were joined by a few families that were dotted around the place having picnics under the shade of the trees. After about two hours of basking in the sun, we were hot and decided, before heading home for a nap,  to go to our favourite frozen yoghurt shop to indulge in something refreshing and do some people watching while we were at it!

All in all, despite having to work on Saturday, it was a perfect weekend! I got to do what I love most, be outdoors in the sun, and explore a part of Córdoba I had never seen before! I hope you´ve had a great weekend!

Thank you for reading. I hope you´ve enjoyed it!

What´s your favourite way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon?

Giana xoxo