Wedding in Cordoba

My personal favorite virgen: La Virgen de los Dolores (Virgin of Pains).
see all photos »

On the last weekend in July, Mariolina and Antonio invited me, as a friend, to join them on a road trip to Cordoba for a wedding banquet celebrating the second marriage of one of Antonios nine brothers. We headed out on Thursday afternoon and after 5 long hours in the car spent alternately sleeping and singing along to Spanish club music, we arrived at Antonios mothers house in time for dinner with grandmother, one aunt, and a very few of Carols MANY Spanish cousins.

Before wed arrived, Mariolina had described Antonios family as a masterpiece of contradictions. Very old, wealthy, and of high standing in Cordoba, this family, she told me, dressed and acted much like a family from a previous century. The men were typically the head of the family, the grandmother would not respect anyone who confessed to not believing in God, and all the woman wore one-peice bathing suits. On the other hand, all of the young cousins an entirely different life outside their parents homes, lives utterly modern and "normal". "I am never bored watching this family interact," Mariolina told me, "every time theres a family gathering, its like watching a theater production."

I couldnt have asked for two more generous or attentive personal guides to Cordoba than Carols cousins, Koque and Pablo.

At a party with Pablo.
see all photos »

I, of course, didnt know the family well enough to see the subtle and constant clashes in life philosophies, but I did see a large, happy family that knew how to show their affection, celebrate happy circumstances, and welcome a stranger into their midst as one of the family. At first, Mariolina tried introducing me as her American au pair, but when it became clear that many people had no idea what an au pair was, she simply introduced me as a friend of the family.

To my great delight, both Carlos and Koque (who I had met at Mariolinas birthday celebration) were both in attendence and I got to spend a good deal of time with the latter. In fact, he ended up ditching the 12 hour wedding banquet towards the end of the evening to take me on a personal guided tour of the old section of Cordoba. We visited La Mesquita, Calle de Panuello (a street only about 20 inches wide) and several other sites of tourist interest. It was a beautiful afternoon. Afterwards, we stopped for a brief rest and some much needd water at his girlfriends house. The visit was made twice as interesting by the unspoken fact that I was the first person, before any of his family, to meet his girlfriend.

More of the cousins (and me!)
see all photos »

Later that night, another of Carols cousins, Pablo, invited me to go to a party with him at a friends house. Going by the Spanish clock, we left for the party close to midnight and didnt return home until 5:30 am. Although most of the people were slightly younger than myself (17-19 years old) there was plenty of alcohol and everyone was VERY friendly. I spent most of the night singing along (in my broken Spanish) to my favorite Spanish popular music and talking to the youth of Cordoba over cheese puffs and vodka. Close to 3 am, Pablo pulled out a deck of Tarot cards and proceeded to read everyones fortune, including mine, in Spanish.

Some of the cousins.
see all photos »

The next day, I was taken on a second personal walking tour by the same Pablo. In 2 and a half hours under the blazing 43 degree Celsius Spanish sun (were talking over 110 degrees F) we drank Granizadas, a river of water, and saw practically every church and statue of any interest in Cordoba. I couldnt have asked for two more generous or attentive tour guides.

On the final day in Cordoba, Koque called (my first telephone call in Spain!) and invited me to eat lunch with him, his girlfriend, and a few friends. The afternoon was relaxing, enjoyable and stimulating. Despite the fun Id had the night before at Pablos party, I find that I always feel more at home with people slightly older than myself than with the people of my own age. As usual, I had absolutely no idea what to order from the Spanish menu and so Koque and his girlfriend went out of their way to order a little bit of everything and wouldnt let me pay a cent. We all ate far too much and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Me, dressed for the wedding banquet with La Mesquita in the background.
see all photos »

All in all, it was a wonderful visit. Cordoba is a beautiful city and I can wholeheartedly recommend it (and its people) to anyone who feels like visiting central Spain.