A la feria!

Imagine a week long all day/all night block party, all the food and drink you can consume, and beautiful dresses, suits, and horse drawn carriages, and you've got yourself La Feria De Abril.

The entrance to Feria

This past week we have had off from school because of Feria (or the April Fair). It's basically a week long block party in a huge fairground on the other side of the river. Nothing really gets done and the schedule for the week goes a little something like this (and note that this schedule applies to people of all ages).

1. Monday night a midnight, they turn on all the lights at the portada, or the main entrance, and this signifies the beginning of feria. 

2.People go in, and they can drink in these tents called casetas, which there are thousands of. However, you have to know someone to get in because they are all privately owned. Or in our case, you can just try and make friends quickly. 

3. But you go and drink rebujito (sherry wine and 7-up), dance the sevillanas (a form a flamenco) and eat and be merry until around 6 or 7 in the morning.  

4. Then you grab some churros or bunelos (both deep fried foods kind of like donuts or funnel cakes) 

5. Go home, sleep until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, have lunch, then go back and repeat the whole thing over again. 

Like I said, the Spaniards are a very social group. This video short video from rick steves can kind of give you an idea of feria.

We were actually in Marrakech for the first part of Feria (next post will detail that trip!), so last night was our first night of feria. Before we went to the fairgrounds, we got all dressed up (two of my friends wore traditional outfits) and went to the nicest hotel in Seville for drinks. We went to the Hotel Alfonso XIII around 10 to have a drink and watch the flamenco show. The hotel is very old, very nice, but very expensive! But, it was neat to see the hotel, the flamenco show, and we got some great pics to show for it!

My friends, Adrian and Antonio and I
I even got to wear a fancy British hat, like I've always wanted!

inside the caseta

After the drinks with our teacher at the hotel, we made our way over to feria. It was almost too much for words. We couldn't believe our eyes. We made our way down the street and found the caseta of another of our professor (which we had been invited to) and went inside. We ordered a pitcher of rebujito and took in all the sights of feria. We watched the women in their beautiful dresses dance the sevillanas, and everyone was so happy and social. Then we walked around, made friends, and went into a few other casetas. Overall, it was a great first night of feria.

Tonight, we'll go back to feria, and tomorrow, we have a bull fight. We managed to get tickets to the very last bull fight during feria (which is supposed to be one of the best of the season). We'll get all dressed up for that too, then we'll sit on the river bank and watch the fireworks, signaling the end of feria. 

people in the streets of feria

This whole semester has had me thinking what an amazing, fortunate life I am living here and sometimes I just can't believe how lucky and I am be doing so. Hasta hora!

Let's go to the beach, beach, let's go get away

The beach were we spent the day

If this study abroad trip has taught me anything, it's how much I love the beach/being near water. It's become one of my favorite past times. Lounging on the beach, listening to the waves, taking in some sun, sleeping, playing soccer in the sand, swimming, I could go on all day. Well, April 5-7 my friends and I did a trip to the beaches of Portugal! We went through a tour group recommended by our school. We got on a bus friday morning at 11, and drove 3 hours to Albufeira, Portugal. They set us up in hotel/apartments. We had kitchens and lots of space just for hanging out. 
We did a cruise along the coast that first afternoon and also hung out of the beach. The cruise was so much fun, and they docked so we could jump in the water if we wanted. The water was freezing cold, but that didn't stop 5 of us. There were probably 15-20 people on our boat, but I was one of the 5 that jumped into the freezing Atlantic. 

I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity like that! But we had a great time, once we warmed back up, that is!

Family dinner!

That night, since we all had kitchens, we had a bug potluck dinner, where we all cooked something and then hung out and ate and talked. There were around 10-15 of us, and we had a great time. The tour group also took us out for the night and showed us around the city.

View from the cliff we climbed up

The next day, we drove an hour away to Lagos to spend the day at the beach, and the beach we went to was one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. The water was crystal clear, it was a sunny day, and I couldn't have asked for anything more. We spent the day exploring caves, hiking, swimming, playing soccer, and taking in the sun. Pretty great day, if you ask me. We were at the beach from around 12-5, then we drove to a beautiful look out point. And we snagged some great pics!

My friends and I at the lookout point

Have to take the jumping pic everywhere!

Overall, the trip to Portugal was one of my favorites because, one, all of my friends went on it, and two, the weather was beautiful.

Hasta hora!

Living the Spanish Lifestyle

Spring has finally sprung in Spain, and a sorry for not writing for so long. It's hard to want to do much of anything, let alone stay inside long enough to write a blog post when I have beautiful weather (70s and 80s), and an even more beautiful country, at my fingertips.

Dad, Mom, and I after Palm Sunday Mass

I guess the first major thing that happened since the blog post was Semana Santa! Holy Week in Spain, and specifically in Seville is a huge deal. The whole town comes to a halt. I started off the weekend before Holy Week by taking a train up to meet my parents in Madrid! My mom and dad were able to come over and visit for 10 days, and I know I had a great time showing them around where I lived, and I hope that they had just as good a time. I got into Madrid on Friday via the AVE, which is the really fast train in Spain. It would take 6 hours by car to get to Madrid, but the AVE gets you there in two and a half. When I arrived, my parents were waiting for me in the train station! Boy, after all the hard work they put into helping me plan my trip, I was happy to see them. So, we gathered our things and went to the place we were staying. It was a nice size flat, and we were greeted by the owners son. He showed us around and got us all settled. While in Madrid, we walked around the city, took lots of pictures, visited the Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, the Puerta Del Sol, and the Prado (I got to see my favorite work of art, Las Meninas, there). We also got to take a day trip out to Toledo, which was a neat city to see. 

Plaza Mayor

The Royal Palace

The Prado

A nice view of Toledo

After 5 days in Madrid, we caught the train back to Seville. I still notice whenever I'm away from Seville for any amount of time, when I get back, I always, always, always catch myself thinking "wow, it's nice to be home." 

you can see the feet of the men under the float

Mom, Dad, and I made our way to the Seville apartment, then went out to watch some of the parades floats (or pasos) for Semana Santa. People from all over the world come to Seville for Semana Santa, and it is one of the two biggest festivals of the year. Each church in Seville has a giant float, but the neatest thing about them is they are all carried by men under the float. There can be anywhere from 20-50 men under a float, depending on the size and weight, and each man carries it by lifting a wooden 2x4 on the back of their neck (and each man carries a load of around 80 pounds). It's a real honor to get to carry the float, but it is always very exhausting, men can collapse, and they can't see where they are going while they do all of this.

float of the virgin mary

As far as sighting in Seville, we got to see the Alcazar, which the royal palace in Seville, and the cathedral (the third largest in the world), which are the main things to see here. What my favorite part of the whole trip was the experience that mom and dad got to see. Tough we didn't do a ton of sightseeing, we took in a lot of the culture. A lot of Spanish culture is just being very relaxed, laid back, not worried about anything, and very very social. The Spaniards are never home except to sleep. It could be 10 pm on a Tuesday and they would still be out and about, even if it's just for a walk or to go get a tapa and drink. They live in the streets here and thrive on social interaction. Mom and Dad were able to experience it in our tapas and drinking that we did everyday. I was able to show them some of my favorites (berenjenas con miel, or eggplant with honey, and lots of good wine). Overall, I had a great time showing them around where I live and why I love Spain, and specifically Seville, so much.