The Rain in Spain... Doesn't Stop Feria

The rain in Spain might make a catchy song or nice exercise for linguists, but in reality it is one of the most aggravating things I have experienced. Rain is not a valid excuse for skipping school or work, so the whole town walks around completely soaked and the clothes don’t dry for days. The city just can’t handle the rain: when there are several days of rain, the power goes out all the time and the phones don’t work. We also lost the microwave and our beloved heater to power surges. But does rain stop Spaniards from celebrating holidays? (Or does anything for that matter?) Even though it rained more during Feria this year than any other year in recorded history, it was one of my best weeks here since I got to hang out with so many friends and meet new ones. It actually took place 2 weeks ago, I’m just posting about it now. And I’ll dedicate this post to my mother, since I’ll talk about some of my friends here. It’s hard to describe exactly what Feria is. It is a fair that began in the middle of the 1800s when people would come once a year to the center of town to sell farm products, but has since evolved into a festival that just involves people getting together and having a good time. It has its own section of town across the river with over 1.2 million square meters dedicated solely to the Feria. It is divided into 2 sections: an amusement park for the kids and streets of casetas (tents decorated just like houses but with tables and bars inside). These casetas are bought by groups of families, friends, or businesses, so they are exclusive to the people in the group. There are a few public ones but they aren’t that much fun. So to really enjoy Feria, you have to go with Sevillanos. And fortunately, I know a few.
Most of Feria happens in the evenings and night since people still have to work during the day. It officially began Mon night/Tues morning at midnight with the Alumbrao, when all the lights in the streets and the entrance arch turn on for the first time. Before then, everyone eats fried fish with their families, but I went out for tapas with some friends from a Bible Study for young people that I go to every Wed. night. After seeing the Alumbrao, we headed to a public caseta where they introduced me to the typical cuisine of Feria and tried to teach us to dance Sevillanas (a type of dance slightly like Flamenco but not) but most the Spanish people with us were guys and couldn't dance well. We came home "early" around 3am. Pictured here: Sefora (an Italian girl), Carolyn (an American from our group), Emilio (a Spanish guy whose house we meet at), Loyda (a Columbian doctoral student here that makes great coffee), and me. There were 2 other Spanish guys with us, Isaias and Jose Maria, but they were taking the picture. On Tuesday, I went with Sefora and Carolyn to the towns of Cadiz and Chiclana. Our friends Francisco (who is sort of dating Sefora) and his sister Angela had invited us to come to their house for the day. They go to the university in Sevilla but live in Chiclana. Even though it was raining, we saw the cathedral, museum, and ocean in Cadiz before going to their town to explore and hang out at their house. I love this picture (but not my umbrella)... Thursday afternoon we ignored the scattered showers and got dressed in our flamenco dresses (I wore my boss' daughter's old one) and went to Feria again. This time we went to several different casetas that people in our group could enter. We started with 6 people, but by the middle of the night we had about 16 of friends and friends of friends, etc so I got to meet a lot of new people. And they told me that with my dress, I looked less like a "giddy" (English-speaking girl) and more Spanish :^) Not all the Spanish girls in our group wore their dresses because of the rain, but in the sunny days almost all the women wore them, complete with the shawls with fringe and flowers and combs in their hair. The girls tried to teach Carolyn and I to dance, and we ate tapas like spicy chicken, tortillas (omelets of potatoes), and croquetas. We spent most the night dancing, clapping to the music, talking, eating, and riding a few rides like bumper cars. I came home with another girl around 5am since I had to work the next day.

Me, Angela, Carolyn, Sefora

Macarena and Angela dancing

Me, Angela, and Sefora clapping

Sefora, Francisco, Isaías, and AngelaOn Saturday, I went back with the family I'm staying with. The grandma took Ana and her friend Carmen and let my roommate and I tag along. Rosario, my señora, was working in one of the casetas. It was really neat to see the Feria from a different perspective and hang out with two 10-year olds who were adorable in their flamenco dresses. We rode a couple rides with them and watched as Rosario taught them to dance more. Little girls dress up and learn to dance pretty much from the time they're born, but some parts of the dance are harder than others. There are 4 parts, and each one has 3 sections with different steps in it. I'm not very good b/c they all tried to teach me all of them at the same time. I'll finish my novel on Feria here. I love and miss you all!