-Dancing in the Fountain, Karen McCann
I blinked on April 1st and all of a sudden it's May 6th....... NO! April has come and gone right before my eyes. It was truly a great month. Kickin' it off with Morocco, we came back to Sevilla for BEAUTIFUL weather. You pretty much skip Spring and go right into Summer here (Although apparently Summer in Sevilla is unbearably hot). The following weekend started off La Feria de Abril (The Seville Fair). This is one of the biggest celebrations in Sevilla--pretty much everyone had the week off of school and work.
Many of our friends were traveling during this week off of class, so Florencia and I soaked up all of our time galavanting around beautiful Sevilla. Through her host mom's English Time school, we got the opportunity to teach some Spaniards English (THANK YOU, FLO!) It's a conversation class and we have met some really cool people. My class is a bunch of 20-something year olds and I fully plan on keeping in touch with them when I go back to the states. Friday night we went out with them and they showed us a true "Sevillano" evening. We hung outside in the busy plazas, then we hopped around from place to place getting tapas and drinks. We all put money in towards a "bote," which is typical thing to do in Spain. For example, we all put in 10 euro and someone held onto it and we'd buy as many tapas/drinks throughout the night until it runs out. It's pretty nice, actually. I am SO happy that I met these people. We have had so much fun just talking about everything. I am really, really sad to leave them. Thank you for everything Alicia, Alejandro, Alberto, and Juan Carlos!! Os quiero y voy a volver, pronto :) O venid a Nueva York conmigo!
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| Night out with Alicia, Alberto, and Alejandro. Don't want to leave you! |
La Feria was one of the coolest thing I've experienced in Sevilla. Picture this--- a huuuuuuugee fairground filled with tents side-by-side and beautiful colors, lights, music, and people. A countless number of horse-drawn carriages driving through the streets. The "casetas" (tents) are lined up for miles. Families own these casetas and they are filled with bars, tables, lights, decorations, and of course, beautiful Sevillianos. The women of ALL ages wear these "trajes" or flamenco dresses. From the first look, one may think they are a little different, maybe even a tad unattractive, but every Spanish person at the fair that week was STUNNING. I was mesmerized. Flo and I would walk around just staring and smiling. And the men looked very handsome in their jackets. I thought it was amazing the tradition behind the whole Feria. They play the typical Sevillana music and drink "Rebujitos" and Manzanilla. When they play their typical music, there is a 4-stage dance that everyone knows. It's incredible.
This isn't the greatest video but a girl can only be so creepy. Typically the dance is between a male and a female and they see it as a way of "flirting" but whenever they hear this song everyone starts dancing, regardless of who you're with.
We went in our friend Alvaro's caseta with a bunch of his friends and it was a ball! Him and his brother played music while everyone danced. After we met up with Alicia and Alejandro for a bit! These people stay up until 6 am everynight just partying and enjoying life. The carnival part of the fair was probably the best display I've ever seen. They had the greatest rides. We took the ferris wheel and it was the most breathtaking thing overlooking the fair.
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| View from the Ferris Wheel: Aerial view of the casetas and people! |
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| Manzanilla, typical drink of La Feria |
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| Horse-drawn carriages all over the city |
WHEN I come back to Sevilla (if I ever leave), I most definitely shall be returning during La Feria.
It just completely solidified my obsession with this city.
