Translation of ambiguity in Spanish

There were a lot of souvenir shops inside the palace which spoiled the atmosphere a little bit. Monkeys were also sitting around and begging for food. We took some close-up images of them.
Well I take Spanish classes in college, that's the only useful language they offer, but if they had French I would be taking French. It sounds so nice. I have been lazy lately and I'm not really good at it.
The bus left on time to the border town Tacna. Crossing the border was also an experience. We needed to show our passports about seven or eight times and were checked for goods three times.