La Feria: A Trip back in Time

For the longest time, all of the talk of the town was Feria this, feria that. Are you buying a dress? Are you going to Feria? etc. etc. Although my little heart so desired a pretty dress to fit in with the locals, I did not give into this desire. Those dresses can cost a pretty penny and I just couldn't justify it.

We had one week of school in between Semana Santa and Feria, and during the week of Feria, which begins Monday night at 12, there was one day of school: Tuesday. Why this is the case, I will never know. I don't ask questions. This isn't about efficiency. please.

Monday night at 12am, Raquel, Katy, I went to see the lighting of the Portada (front gate). We got there before the huge crowd of people but got unlucky in who stood around us. It was a few men who didn't believe in showering... needless to say we didn't stick around there long. After watching the lighting of the the portada we made our way against the crowd of tons of people and back home. If we were true Sevillanas though we would have been there for the traditional fried fish dinner and some rebujitos (a mix of manzanilla, a white sherry, and sprite).. but alas we are not and so we went to bed to work and rest up for the next day of festivities.

At school, there was probably less than half of the students in attendance. Many of them did not come due to either going on vacation or to the Feria. I mean who has just a tuesday of school one week? its the dumbest thing i have ever heard. So anyways my day was really laidback.. you know as opposed to the normal hectic/super busy/super stressful work routine that I have. After school, I went home to change my clothes and get pretty for the ferry.. well you know more gorgeous than I normally am.

Raquel and I had an impromptu photo sesh/laugh attack. We are not mature and it is ok. After modeling, we headed out. Feeling awkward without our tights on, we stopped in the mcd's to put them on and adjust our hair. we are legit girls. The walk to feria was not bad and everyone was in the festive mood. There are many feelings in the Sevilla air and happiness was in abundance that day. Our friend Katy's boyfriend's family has a caseta. Oh, I guess I should explain feria. It is the local fair. but it is not a fair like we have in the states. This fair is a see and be seen event. First of all, this is not for the w.t. this is dressy. There are no jeans and cut off tee's. No this is suits and ties for men and dresses for women. Raquel and I didn't have traditional dresses so we went in cocktail dresses and heels. We were looking good. I am just saying. So there are about 1000 casetas, or little houses/tent like things if you will. The casetas don't look like much from the outside but once you go in, there is room to sit and eat, room to dance, decorations galore, a full on kitchen, plumbing in the bathrooms, I mean this is the real deal. They legitimately are little houses. Most of the casetas are private but a few are public.. hence not as cool.

So Katy's boyfriend's family has a caseta and they invited us to come! Thanks guys! shoutout! We went in search of Katy and this caseta.. no answer on the telayfono so we did what anyone would do.. we wandered around. Horses and carriages took paseos through the dirt streets, paper lanterns lined the space above our heads. We were in 1921. It was cool. As we were walking, our good looks attracted the attention of some silly boys. We did our best to ignore them but they were persistent. They made us laugh with the stuffed animals they had won. We were ended up chatting with them and they invited us to their caseta to have a drink or two.

Rebujitos are served in little shot glasses so you are sipping on shots all day long. We stayed for a couple of drinks, chatting about this, that, and the other until we headed off to find Katy.

We then spent the night in JoseLu's family's caseta having drinks, talking with newly made friends. We danced (attempted in my case) to dance sevillanas, I will post a video to show you what I mean, to the flamenco music. We were treated to spanish tortilla and more manzanilla by Katy's boss. The night was incredibly enjoyable.

The next day, we headed to the Feria to ride the rides. The children were there in their costumes riding without any qualms. We went on three rides. La noria (ferriswheel), one that i can't remember the name that twists you around and upside down while the arm you are sitting in also turns around and upside down. Things were flying everywhere on this one. and finally super raton. A child's rollercoaster that was actually really fun. The line was long but moved quickly. However the catch phrase that kept playing Ayy, que te como, que te como (ahh, I will eat you, i will eat you) will never be removed from my brain. Raquel and I shared a chocolate covered waffle, so good. and headed back into the center. We decided not to go back to the Feria but instead went to dinner at this tapas bar we had been wanting to try and grab a drink at the local scottish bar. Of course everything was dead because the whole city was at the Fair but we still had a good time.

The next day, I was off to Lagos on a roadtrip with my favorite travel team.