For my second spring break I decided to stay in Sevilla because there was a big fair going on all week. But even though it translates directly to "fair" in english, this was like no fair that I have ever seen. On Monday night Feria officially begins at midnight with the lighting of the "portada" which is like a gateway to the fairgrounds. Before midnight, everyone in Sevilla (I don't think that is an exaggeration) either goes to the bars or a family spot and has a mixture of fried fish and the Feria drink known as "rebujito" (Manzanilla mixed with 7-Up). Then as midnight approaches everyone heads over to the grounds which to watch the lighting. There is a countdown and at midnight they light all the lights and the portada for the week to officially begin. The grounds are lined with tents called "casetas" that are owned by the more prominent families in Sevilla or groups like political parties, unions, or simply groups of friends. They are paid for by the owners all year, therefore you need an invitation to get in, or you are stuck with the public casetas. One of my good friends and I spent the week together with her host family who seriously knew everyone in every caseta! There are so many, you feel like you are in another city in another time---especially with the horse-drawn carriages riding all over the grounds!
 |
| Here I am with Sara, my Feria partner in crime! It is typical to wear red flowers and black dresses the first night |
 |
| Our traditional Feria dinner: Tomatoes with tuna, olives, fried fish variety, etc. We celebrated with Salud's family at a bar owned by her sister. |
 |
| Belo, me, Salúd, Sara, and María. My guides to la Feria de Abril |
 |
| Here is the Portada right after it was lit at midnight, signaling the beginning of Feria |
 |
| These are the casetas lit up at night |
During the week my friends Sara, Michael and I got sort of a routine with our Feria festivities. We would sleep in, eat lunch, take a nap, and then head to the grounds in the evening to watch Luis, Sara's host brother, and his band perform in a caseta. Every caseta either had live music or just music playing that was all sevillano. Also everyone would dance sevillana all day long which was one of the more interesting things to watch. I was taught a couple times but I don't think I could get it down unless I was born and raised in Sevilla. The dance involves four different "steps" that they do for each song that have a bunch of turns, pases, arm movements, etc. Even though I didn't quite know what I was doing, I was dancing with great teachers all week and I loved the sevillana style. The grounds are located just fifteen minutes by foot from my apartment, so after dancing and singing along with Luis, we would come back to eat dinner and put our feet up before heading back to the grounds around midnight. We were even lucky enough to have some good soccer to watch during our Feria break that complemented our routine perfectly! But my sleep schedule is so wacked out!
 |
| Luis, Sara's host brother, and his band playing at a caseta |
 |
| Horses were all over the city, making it a challenge to cross the street! |
 |
| Here are the casetas by day. |
 |
| Sara and I with our dresses and flowers. Every day I put on a dress/skirt and a giant flower for my hair! |
Feria by day is completely different than Feria by night. According to Salúd and Belo, Sarah's host parents, Feria doesn't really get started until 3 o'clock in the morning! So it was a lot of late nights, rebujitos and sore dancing feet! But Feria is so important to the Sevillanos that I felt so lucky just to be experiencing it. People are preparing for months before Feria. My señora makes her own Feria dress every year and she is so talented. The dresses are called "gitano" dresses because apparently they are the style that the gypsies wore back in the day. Even the little girls have on the most adorable dresses and sometimes match their moms. I was lucky to have a skirt to wear for a couple days, but unfortunately due to my lack of height, I didn't get much use out of it when it rained and the ground got dirty. Her dresses are such a work of art that I just didn't want to get it dirty! Every night my señora would leave around the same time as me and would usually stay out until 6 o'clock in the morning! She didn't work all week, but most sevillanos still go to work by day and Feria by night. By the end of the week my señora said she didn't think her feet could ever walk again! I just don't know how they do it night after night. Very impressive. La Feria es muy dura.
 |
| Every dress was unique, and with the majority of the women dressed gitana, Feria was a colorful world! |
 |
| Here is a mother and daughter dressed in matching trajes de gitana and dancing sevillana |
 |
| So I could pass as a sevillana right??? |
When my friends got back from there Feria trip to London it was fun to show them how the whole thing works. We got slightly rained on, but always had a caseta to hide out and dance in.
Feria wraps up with a bang--on Sunday at midnight they shut off all the lights and have a fireworks show to officially end the week of celebrating just for the sake of celebration. I went to a bridge to watch the show with my group of friends. Although it wasn't anything that could top the Bloomington fireworks, it was still a nice way to relax and reflect on the culture filled week that I had in Sevilla.
 |
| Salúd (second from the right) was a fantastic sevillana teacher for my friends Sara, Catie and me! |
 |
| ¡Olé! At least I can pretend to dance sevillana! |
 |
| Here I am with my best friends in Sevilla and our friend/sevillana teacher for the night Alba (far left), who is a professional dancer! |
 |
| A little rain can't stop the Feria festivities! |
 |
| My best friend and me in front of the Portada saying goodbye to the fairgrounds and to our whirlwind of a week! |
Feria wraps up with a bang--on Sunday at midnight they shut off all the lights and have a fireworks show to officially end the week of celebrating just for the sake of celebration. I went to a bridge to watch the show with my group of friends. Although it wasn't anything that could top the Bloomington fireworks, it was still a nice way to relax and reflect on the culture filled week that I had in Sevilla.
Feria had so much culture wrapped up into one week long event. But now tomorrow it is back to reality. Back to school, although I only have less than two weeks left. Today I hopefully took my last spanish siesta, because it is time to maximize all of the time I have out and about in Sevilla. I just don't know how I am going to handle leaving this beautiful place behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment