Flamenco, Fiesta, Siesta: A Spanish Adventure: Spring Break Part 2

Hey everyone!! It has been a crazy week and I am so excited to tell you all about it. As I have alluded to throughout the year, this past week was the annual spring festival in Sevilla, the Feria de Abril. People have been talking about ever since I arrived in Sevilla, so there was a lot of anticipation and expectations leading up to this big yearly event. In the end, it completely blew away all of my expectations. It was an absolutely incredible week unlike anything I've ever experienced before. So where do I start?

Well, the official start to the festival is Monday night at midnight, but the Rotary group starts celebrating a little bit earlier, Saturday night. Saturday I met up with Alfredo and his wife Aurora and we headed down to the fair grounds. The fair grounds are basically a miniature city broken up into various sized "casetas." Casetas are essentially little houses or tents that are owned by a group of members, and by being a member of that caseta you are able to enter at any time. The Feria de Abril is private, so being a member, or knowing someone that is a member, is very important. The Rotary Club of Sevilla has its own caseta every year that they share amongst themselves and a group of collaborators. Saturday night was essentially the inaugural dinner of the caseta for this year's Feria. Everyone came to the caseta dressed in their finest and enjoyed a great meal together. After the meal, they cleared out the tables and I got my first taste of dancing "Sevillanas," Sevilla's style of flamenco. I think everyone was very impressed with how well I had learned to dance in just a few months :) All in all it was a really great night and a great start to the festivities.

Sunday during the day we once again headed to the caseta for a paella lunch. This time the members came accompanied by family and all. Several of the Rotarians have kids my age that have been really welcoming of me, so it was nice to get to hang out with some people my own age :) Later that day I left the Feria and headed up to Triana to visit my friend Andy and his girlfriend Michelle who was visiting from the States. Michelle is one of my good friends from Wake so it was really great to see her! We just hung out and went out to dinner and had a great time catching up.

As I said previously, Monday night is the official start of Feria and is called "El Alumbrao." This refers to the fact that at midnight, they turn on all the lights in the streets and the Feria officially begins. It is traditional on the night of the "Alumbrao" to have a meal of "Pescaito frito," a selection of various types of fried fish. Luckily I was sitting with people who knew their fish, because they had to explain to me with each plate what exactly it was. I ate a lot fish ranging from small fish fried whole, bones, head and all, to fried seaweed, calamari, cuttlefish, and adobo (a typical fish dish of Sevilla - marinated shark that is fried). After the meal we watched the streets light up, marking the official start of the Feria!

Since Tuesday was the first official day of Feria, it is the first day that the women dress up as gypsies, "vestirse de gitana." So before heading to Feria, we had to get dressed up first! Ana, my German friend Leonie, and I met up at Ana's to get ready together. The typical outfit is as follows (pictures to follow): a "traje de flamenca" (the typical flamenco dresses you see), a flower in the fair, a hair comb, plus necklace, earrings, bracelets and of course a "mantoncillo" (the small shawl that covers the shoulders). Once we were dressed for the part we headed to the Feria and were blown away by what we saw. I had already spent several days on the fair grounds in the caseta, but by day with everyone dressed up, it was spectacular. In addition to all of the people dressed up, the streets were filled with horses! Horse carriages riding people around the grounds or men and women on horses dressed in the typical "traje corto," sitting outside of a caseta drinking a glass of "manzanilla" (a type of sherry that is typical of the Feria). Ana, Leonie, and I went to the Rotary caseta and were able to go for a ride in Ignacio's "coche de caballos" (horse drawn carriage). It was spectacular. It was a great day full of eating and dancing, soaking in the atmosphere.

Pretty much everyday of the week, with the exception of a day of rest on Friday, followed about the same pattern. Wake up, get dressed up, go to Feria, then stay all day. It was incredibly exhausting, but a lot of fun. My favorite part about the experience was seeing and meeting so many people, all of whom were just getting together with friends trying to have a good time. This festival embodies the laid back, enjoy the simple pleasures, don't work too hard, mindset of Sevilla. That being said, there is also a lot of work done at the Feria as well. It provides a lot of opportunities for business deals as businessmen or politicians invite clients to their caseta. In addition, it is not a week of vacation for everyone. University students have the full week off, but most people have to work the whole week, making it even more exhausting! It is typical that someone will come to the Feria after work, then stay all night and head to work again the next morning (Crazy!).

I don't know what more to say about the Feria, but hopefully the pictures can give you a better idea. I don't have all of my pictures downloaded yet, but this should due for now. If I find some more good ones I'll be sure to post! Now that Feria is done it's back to normal life for awhile - school, Rotary meetings, volunteering - but it sure is tough to get back into the swing of things after such a great week off!