La Feria de Abril, I mean Mayo...

Hola tod@s! I have 2 final exams tomorrow, but no te preocupes, I'm going to study soon. Just wanted to update everyone on one of the coolest weeklong holidays I've ever encountered... FERIA!

Okay so in American terms, Feria (or Feria de Abril) is a HUGE fair that comes to Sevilla every year usually in the month of April but always atleast 2 weeks after Semana Santa. However, since Easter was so late this year, "Feria de Abril" was actually in May. (The running joke said it started the 32nd of April lol)

So, what do you do at the Feria? Great question. Feria is basically a huge celebration of the Andalucian culture, including but not limited to: Flamenco dancing (particularly Sevillana), Flamenco dresses, Flamenco music, Singing, Drinking Rebujitos, and lots of fried fish and tapas... Next question, What are "Rebujitos"? Another excellent question. These are possibly one of the greatest drinks I've ever had... It's a slightly unproportional mix of lots of Manzanilla (White wine from Andalucia) and a bit of 7up. Delicioso!

Of course, after much influence from the Rebujitos, everyone becomes a Flamenco dancer at the end of the night (by end of the night I mean around 6:30am when the Feria closes)

Throughout the fair ground there are hundreds of tents, called "casetas" where rich families and organizations set up for private parties where you must be on a list to get in. There are a couple casetas publicos but everyone knows the private parties are better. Luckily, through a connection of a friend of my intercambio, I was able to get into private casetas both nights that I went.

Aside from private tent parties, there's also a half of the fair grounds dedicated to attractions and games, for the kids of course. Ferris Wheels, roller coasters, flipping boats, you name it. It was all there. Hope you enjoy the pictures:

La Portada de Feria, it changes every year

Daniel & I on the Ferris Wheel

Some fun and games :)

Those are all of the casetas

Surprisingly enough, I played twice & got 2 out of 3 both times :)

Quite Sevillana, don't ya think?

The group on Feria night #2

I thought I'd leave you with some friends performing drunk flamenco dancing, enjoy :)

Besos xx
Catalina

I'm Back! (but still in Spain)

So, the charger cable for my laptop broke... literally severed in two pieces... so I haven't been able to post since my computer has been dead for about 3 weeks now. It kinda stinks. However, I did get ahold of a friend's laptop (thanks Brian!) and while I should be working on my presentation on La Casa de Bernarda Alba for tomorrow, I'm going to take a short break to update all my stalkers xD

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated... Let's see what I've done...

There have been two major holiday celebrations in Sevilla. First was Semana Santa (Holy Week) which is right before Easter and second was Feria (for my next post). There were processions of huge floats representing the journey of Jesus leading up to Easter Sunday. While I thought the concept was very interesting and meaningful, the obnoxiously large crowds disinterested me. Take a look-

I couldn't move from where I was standing so I took a pic

These fellas (called Nazarenes) ran around the city all week... They're religious, I swear.

So after approximately 2.5 days of Semana Santa, I was ready to get out of Sevilla. And that's exactly what I did. Brian, Bryan, Jim, and I met up with Brian's parents in Malaga in a town called Estepona and spend a weekend on the beach at a super nice resort. It was amazing. (Big thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Driscoll, I don't think I could thank you enough for your generosity)

A picture from our resort :)

After the beach for a couple days I took off again with Laura and Mariana for Mérida, España, where my other roommate Maca lives. We spent two nights at her house and exploring her quaint town full of Roman ruins. It was amazing, we literally would be walking through town and stumble upon sights like the one below hidden around every corner.

Let's take a walk through the ancient Roman aqueducts today, nbd.

Immediately from Maca's house we went to Lisbon, Portugal to stay the rest of our weekend with some friends of Laura. Not only did I fall in love with this city but also may have met the man of my dreams- a man who can cook! (I hope he's not reading this haha) Aside from that we got to explore not only Lisbon but also, Cascais and Sintra, both very beautiful portuguese towns. Sintra is an amazing little town on a mountainside with an incredible mountaintop castle and monastery. The views from up there were possibly the best I've ever seen...

Beautiful Lisbon

My family should recognize this delicious portuguese sausage... Linguica!

Me and Micael in Sintra :)

Mariana and I, on the castle in Sintra

So that's all I have for now... Hope you've enjoyed. I'm going to try and get more cultural stuff up. It is currently the week for Feria here in Sevilla so prepare to learn lots about Flamenco and the Sevillana :) Can't wait to update you again! Miss everyone... less than 2 months til I'm home.

xo Catalina

PS. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMMY! I LOVE YOU!!