Una Copa y Una Virgen

Our host mom is always scolding me (and sometimes Courtney) for being lazy and not seeing enough of Spain. Shocking that I might be totally worn down after three straight weeks of touring. Ana was right to get us out of bed on Friday afternoon though. I'd slept until eleven thirty, eaten breakfast, pretended to do homework, eaten lunch, and gone back to bed. By 5 PM, non-pajama clothing was in order.

We had plans to go to the museum of the Inquisition (because who doesn't enjoy literal torture, right?) but first, there was some festival to stop by. "La Copa EEVEE viene" - I had no clue what the copa EV was, or why it was coming.

We met up with Ana's friend Victoria, and the four of us walked down to the river. Next to the shiny Torre del Oro was a tiny tower of platinum, a rubber puzzle-piece tennis court, and a bunch of cameras and suited people.

The Davis Cup, the physical trophy, had arrived in Sevilla. We were at a cute little press conference featuring the mayor of Sevilla, the head of the Spanish version of USTA, and a bunch of little kids with little Wilson-sponsored shirts and racquets.

I'm so jealous they got to play next to the Copa EV. EV was just Sevillano Spanish pronunciation fails. The "Da" and "s" part of Davis were not deemed necessary for comprehension. I had to be affronted with a huge platinum pedestal and bowl in order to know what she had been raving about for a week.

After some touristy camera phone pictures I will probably never see next to the giant shiny trophy, my senora walked up to the mayor and double-kissed him. She knows everyone. It's kind of like having the same mother, but 20 years older and Spanish.

The inquisition museum was closed (fail) so we took a cultured stroll into two of Triana's finest churches. Triana, where Carmen (the famous opera protagonist) was from, is the barrio on the other side of the river. It's the home of the other soccer team, gypsies, and ceramics.

And some big churches. Ana educated Courtney in Jesus' family tree by pointing out every single biblical figure on each tapestry, painting, statue, etc. I continued to marvel at just how many riches the Catholic church possesses - so much porcelain, artwork, tapestries, stained glass, gold, jewels, etc. Spain is swimming in bling.

We saw a total of 50+ virgen statues. Apparently, one statue has a 'rivalry' with another one on the other side of the river. It's like futbol clubs, but the match-up is Mary vs. Mary.

Overall, we had a lovely afternoon with our 60something-year-old besties and ended the cultural day with a cana and a tapa (beer and tortilla espanola).

At this point, we're basically locals.