Feria!

This has, hands down, been two of my most favorite and memorable days in Sevilla thus far. We have the entire week off of school to celebrate Feria de Abril, and, ask any of the kids at the school I volunteer with, this week is bigger than the whole Christmas season. Women wear extravagant dresses (a different one every day), men wear suits and ties or traditional caballero attire, people ride horses throughout the entire neighborhood of the fairgrounds, families set up their private casetas to dance, eat, and drink literally 24/7 for 7 days straight, there is an amusement park as decked out as the State Fair (minus the rednecks), and people come from all over Andalucia to party in the fairgrounds of Los Remedios. Its located in a lot that is empty 51 weeks out of the year, but starting at midnight Monday night with the big illumination of la portada, modeled this year after Plaza de Espana, the city of Sevilla truly comes alive. 

These are all photos I took when I went to see the illumination on opening night when the Feria festivities commenced. Eric and I got lost in the immense crowd standing in front of the portada, botelloning and waiting for the lights to go on and for them to be let into the fairgrounds. We were trying to meet up with Chloe and Emily beforehand but once we realized just how many people were in such a tightly-packed street, we turned to watch the portada and just enjoyed the light show. Once people began to bombard the main gates and we hung back, we were able to find C and E and their host sister. She had the connection to a friend with a private caseta and we were able to get in to dance some traditional Sevillana dancing with the locals (so much better than the crowded public tents). We ended up dancing until 4 am without even realizing it! Before taking a cab back we meandered around, admiring the scene that is Feria. The most noticeable thing about it all wasn't the 20,000 bulb lights strung over every street, nor was it the individualized casetas made to look like little houses to define each and every family/business that owned it, nor was it the gargantuan roller coaster fair rides that appeared out of nowhere in the course of a day...no the most fascinating thing to me about it all was how genuinely happy everyone was. I took a video of an elderly couple dancing the Sevillana, the look on their faces sheer bliss. At 4 am just as many 60 year-olds were out and about, laughing, gnashing on a bocadillo or churros y chocolate as the young adults in the crowd. The mood was contagious; when I woke up the next morning I was all smiles and couldn't wait to embrace the now summer day.

Tuesday I relaxed and rested my foot during the day, had a great lunch and wrote the recipe down in my little notebook (Cristina is always pleased about that and happy to indulge some great kitchen secrets upon request), packed for Budapest, went with MC (and the rest of the family, C and Miguelangel) to get her camera back FINALLY--it took C lying and saying she was her niece and that she demanded the camera be fixed before she got MC's parents (C's fake brother) involved--and then headed back to Feria to experience it during the daytime. Tuesday is the first actual day, when the women are allowed to start wearing their dresses, and I didn't want to miss that (see above picture). One temperature sign on the street said it was 35 degrees today...aka 95 degrees Fahrenheit (NO way, I would have been complaining way more) but even so, it was incredibly hot and I couldn't comprehend how all the women could manage to wear such heavy dresses with so many layers, tight long sleeves, no air whatsoever, and heels! And the guys in long pants and coats, my hat's off to them. I put on my most summery clothes and met up with Tucker and Julia to walk around the amusement park area. We got soft serve ice cream, coconut slices (yes they sell fresh coconut slices for 1 euro), and chocolate covered strawberries. After, we rode the Inverter. It was my first fair ride ever and even though I was cursing like a madman the entire time, it was the funnest thing I think I've done so far in Sevilla. It was so tall you could see all the way across Sevilla (from upside down/sideways/backwards/every other which way the ride jerked you) in a way I've never experienced before. Although I wish I could've taken my camera with me on the ride, its probably for the best it stayed on the ground. That thing was rickettttyyyyy. 

I had to get back for dinner after just the one ride, but being there for a couple hours gave me enough of a sense of what Feria is all about, and I'm so glad I got to be here for that. I walked back (against my will...all the Sevici bikes have gone MIA; my foot absolutely kills now)through Maria Luisa park and Plaza de Espana as the sun was setting and I felt like I had stepped back in time. Feria has been a tradition in Sevilla for who knows how long, and I can tell they are passionate about preserving it. Again, I was overcome by how jovial everyone seemed to be. The caballeros riding horses passed me in the street would tip their hat at me and wink, and then just mosey on their merry way. Families with little girls decked out head to toe in mini versions of the mother's Feria outfit waved and smiled at me and at everyone else they passed by on their way into the scene. Even the normally very scary police officers laughed and joked with passersby. 

I made it back home just in time for a delicious dinner of eggplant and cheese pasta, olive oil/garlic/cheese-stuffed artichokes, and my favorite bread that C only buys once in a blue moon. Ice cream cake for dessert. And we danced some Sevillana in the kitchen (obviously recording it all on MC's computer). Now that I'm in bed reflecting on the past couple days, I realize we have moved from winter straight to summer. It feels like I'm out of school, but since I don't have any internship or obligation to fulfill while I'm here in Spain, no jobs to search for, no rent to pay (kind of), its like I'm back in high school and having a summer where I can do nothing but have fun all day long and not feel a single pang of guilt about it. 

On Monday, after the Portugal gang had returned, we met up in the park since it was a pretty day; it wasn't only sunny with no clouds in the sky, it was HOT. Last week I wore layers and gloves to class and just a few days later I'm wearing a bathing suit, a tank top and shorts. We sat on towels, listened to the Of Monsters and Men CD, ate Chloe's chocolates that her friend sent her from the states (Reese's and Twix, the two greatest gifts study abroad kids could ask for), blew on dandelion flowers and made wishes, and tossed oranges from the trees back and forth like they were baseballs. 

So after a weekend in Sevilla, full of time to myself which was both refreshing and rejuvenating, followed by two days of sheer joy to be with friends and with the whole city of Sevilla, celebrating the warm weather and the rich culture that defines the whole place, I can safely say I love it here. I'm so looking forward to going to Budapest (in 3 hours) but I'll also be happy to spend the 3 weekends I don't have any trips planned here in this town that I'm learning has more and more to offer around every corner.