2nd night at Feria

Our 2nd night of Feria started when Ally, Chuck, Jodi and Preston met at our apartment last night and got ready to go out to the fair grounds. The girls were putting on their dresses, trying to find the perfect place to put the flowers on their heads and complaining about their shoes and weight of the dresses. We finally made our way over to the closest metro stop and met Britney in front of the big door to Feria. Kelsey and I split off from the group because we knew somebody with a public tent and wanted to go see him today.
      This story goes back to when the Fullers were here and we went out to lunch on their first day here. We went to a restaurant that Kelsey and I had been to a few times previously but this time they were having a special event. There was an oyster bar set up and a special on oysters and champagne. We got a table and ordered some oysters and shared a bottle of champagne and enjoyed the boisterous restaurant full of locals doing the same. After a few minutes Mr. Fuller walked outside and began to talk to some men who were just outside the door that we had talked to before going in to the restaurant. (They were the ones who told us about the special on oysters.) Mr. Fuller came back and told us all about what he talked about with the men outside and relayed it to us.
      One man he talked to was David. He was the one who owns the oyster company and he is catering  the event in this local restaurant using his own oysters for the special offer. When he was 17, David went to the U.S. to study business and stayed there for 5 years. He studied Miami and Mr. Fuller told him that we were all from Florida. This really got David excited. He came inside the restaurant a few minutes after Mr. Fuller came back in and sat down with Kelsey and I and started talking with us. Mr. Fuller had told him that we were studying in Sevilla and we would be in the city until the end of May. He told us that when he went to America he was treated so nicely and everyone was so helpful to him that he felt like he had a debt to pay back to any Americans he met. He told us to call him every Thursday and he would tell us where the next special event would be in the city for the following Friday. Because we were traveling so much this semester we could only make it to one of his events but he welcomed us with open arms and we got to talk some more and share more stories about our life here in Sevilla. This was about 2 weeks ago just before we were leaving for Morocco.
     He told us that we needed to experience Feria and that he would love to have us come to his private tent during the festival. We told him thanks and we would definitely take him up on his offer. So yesterday when we split off from our group of friends we called David to find out where his tent was. It wasn't hard to find at all and he walked us right in.
      There were families eating at a few tables and there was a bar serving drinks and tapas behind the eating area. David introduced us to his wife, his wife's sisters, his friends and their wives then Kelsey and I immediately forgot all their names. He ordered us a pitcher of Rebujito (which is a mix of sherry and 7-up) and a spanish tortilla. We talked with his friends about our stay in Sevilla so far and one of his friends was excited to practice his english with us. We stayed in his tent while a live band played typical Sevillana music and lots of people danced. The 4 hours we were there flew by and we had to go meet our friends to head to the tent they had found. David would not let me pay for anything that Kelsey and I drank or ate, using the excuse that he owed a debt to all Americans because of the hospitality they showed him as a student. We thanked him so much and said goodbye to all his friends and family then met back up with our friends who had a table in a public tent.
      Sorry for the long story but when I look back at these stories and pictures I want to remember as much as I can about the people I meet and David definitely left a lasting impression on me. He barely knew Kelsey and I but treated us like family without any hesitation. David joked that when he returns to Florida with his wife and 3 kids I can pay the tab when I take them out somewhere.



We got to the public tent a few minuted after leaving David's and immediately started dancing. None of us are professionals in any sense and don't have that much style either, but we all had shared some drinks and that was enough to get our confidence up.

After a few hours of dancing we made our way to the actual "fair" part of Feria. They had tons of rides, games and places to buy carnival food. We made our way to a roller coaster called "Super Raton" which means "super rat." Kelsey had a really fun time as you can see by her expression. 

After the roller coaster we went on "Barca Vikinga" which means "Viking Boat." It was a classic swinging boat ride but had cages on the ends where you could stand if you wanted. Chuck, Ally, Britney, Preston and I loaded up into the cage and held on as the boat swung up into the air then straight back down to the ground. A fun thing that we figured out was to jump at the very top of the swing. If you have ever been going up in an elevator and jumped as it reached the top you get a feeling a floating. That is exactly what we did in the cage and we were pulled back down by the boat swinging back down towards the ground. 

It was about 2am by this time and we had been dancing and walking around Feria for 6 hours already. We decided to get some churros and then head home. I ordered churros and chocolate and paid 5 euros for about one pound of churros and a cup of melted chocolate. We all shared the amazing fried dough and ate as much as we could but still didn't finish it all.

Feria is a terrific experience and on our way down the street I had to take one last look at the beautiful sight that Sevilla has created in order to celebrate one of it's greatest traditions.

This week has been amazing so far to say the least. We will be going back to the Feria grounds again today because we are really trying to immerse ourselves as much as we can in the festivities. Right now Kelsey and I are booking hotels and trains for our Italy trip at the end of the semester. It's pretty stressful booking everything but we know it will be a great trip in the end. We've got a few more days of Feria left to go and then we go back to school on Wednesday, May 2nd. After we get back to school we will only have 2 weeks left to finish all of our presentations, study for finals, (hopefully) pass our finals and pack up for our trip to Italy.
     It's going to be really strange packing up our apartment and leaving it behind. It's been our home for almost 6 months now and we'll be leaving it in just about 3 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to come home and be with my friends and family so soon, its just I know this Spanish apartment will always be a great memory of mine. I've also been thinking about what I'm going to do when I get home to all the "stuff" I have laying around that I have lived without for 6 months. If I really needed all that stuff then I would brought it with me. Since I haven't needed it for 6 months, I may not need it at all. So when I get back I may have a donating spree of clothes and random things. haha, we'll see what I think when I actually get back to my house though.

Hope you enjoyed the stories on this post and another round of pictures from Feria will be coming soon!

Bull fight in Sevilla

After our long night of dancing during Feria we slept in before the big day of the bull fight. Kelsey and I met Chuck and Jodi at a metro stop near the Plaza de Toros and prepared ourselves for an amazing experience. None of us had seen a bull fight before and didn't know much about them. We got to our seats a little before the fight started and watched the whole arena fill up with Spaniards.

I kept trying to compare the bull fight to an american football game but I couldn't do that in any sense. During the fight the audience was almost completely silent.

While I took this picture it was so quiet that I could hear a man eating sunflower seeds 10 seats away from me. I even got a stare down from somebody who heard my camera shutter when I took the picture. Everyone was on edge and they really show a lot of respect for the art of bull fighting. 

Each bullfight has 3 matadors and 6 bulls. Every matador has to kill 2 bulls and if his kills are good he can be awarded “trophies.” The 3^rd matador we saw had a great first fight and after killing the bull with a clean stab at the end, the crowd exploded with cheering. They started waving white handkerchiefs and clapping for him to be awarded a trophy. An official cut one ear off the bull and awarded it to the matador who then took a bow and took a lap around the plaza. People threw their hats, roses and one person even threw him a live chicken!  

After the 6 bulls were killed the 3 matadors and their respective groups of helpers made a lap around the plaza and accepted the applause of the crowd with tipped hats. It was amazing to see how much influence the crowd has on the fight and can control different aspects of the fight with whistling, hissing or clapping. It was an amazing experience that I am glad to have spent the money on. I'm sure Kelsey could have done without the whole killing part of the fight but that is all part of the culture.

This week we are going back to the Feria festival and later this week we are going to a futbol (soccer) game. I hope you all have enjoyed these blogs and I'm glad to say that as of now I am all caught up on my posts. I highly recommend reading up on Feria and bullfighting in general if you want to know more about them. I know I have been brief when talking about these things but they really do deserve some more reading into.

The next post may be coming soon with more pictures from Feria so keep an eye open for that. Adios!

First day of Feria de Abril

Feria is celebrated every April in Sevilla and is basically a festival with rides, food, drinks and lots of dancing. The famous dresses are worn by the women and the men dress to impress. This first picture is of the main door that was constructed for the 2012 Feria. At night it is lit up with thousands of bulbs and can be seen from anywhere in the fairgrounds. 

This is one of the public tents that our group spent a lot of time in. Lots of families were here singing and dancing for hours together. Not wanting to stick out as foreigners, we did the same. During the semester we practiced the Sevillanas dance with other people from the international program. When we got to the tent our teachers, Esperanza and Mariam, were there waiting to dance with us.

 We were in this tent from about 5pm until midnight passing the time by dancing the Sevillanas, eating and drinking with great people and enjoying the festivities.

Kelsey and I had a great time practicing our dances and it was a lot of fun seeing everyone together enjoying the he party. I even got a little help from a local who told us some tips for the footwork of the complicated dance. 

We spent the entire night walking around the fair and dancing in different tents with our friends from school. At the end of the night we headed back towards the main door and looked back at the amazing view that Spaniards love to see every year in April. Each year the door is different and more extravagant than the last. I can't imagine what next year will be like. 

The day after our first Feria experience we went to see a bullfight in the Plaza de Toros. Chuck, Jodi, Kelsey and I bought our tickets before the Morocco trip and had been looking forward to seeing one of the most traditional Spanish experiences we could see. That will be coming up in the next post. Adios!

Gibraltar and Morocco

Sorry for the long break in my postings. Kelsey and I did not bring our computers to Morocco because we thought they would be more of a hindrance than a convenience. We had a really good time in the 3 cities we stopped in on our trip through Morocco and we experienced a lot.

Our first stop was in Gibraltar, which is a province owned by Great Britain. As we learned from our tour guide, Ivan, there are 30,000 Gibraltarians who speak English and Spanish mostly. We made our way across the famous airport, which has a runway that goes through a main road, straight to the Rock of Gibraltar. We began to drive up it’s winding roads while Ivan told us more about his home. We stopped at St. Michael’s Cave and did a quick walk through then found ourselves outside with the popular Gibraltar monkeys. 

 This is the run way which we had to cross in order to get to the Rock of Gibraltar. The air traffic controllers have to time the planes landing with the fact that pedestrians and cars are always crossing the busy street.

 This is our tour guide Ivan. He had a great time telling us all about Gibraltar, where he was born and raised. I was excited to hear everything he had to say about his home, I just wished he would have watched the road a little better.

These are the famous monkeys of Gibraltar. Our tour guide told us that there are about 300 monkeys on the Rock and that they are fed and cared for by the Gibraltar government. They range in sizes and they al have different temperaments but they mostly just want food. Kelsey learned the hard way that an open bag of nuts is almost an invitation to these monkeys. She stepped out of the tour bus with a small handful of nuts in one hand and the large bag of nuts in the other. Her intention was to feed the small handful to the monkeys and maybe use the bag if she ran out. One hungry monkey had other plans though. He ran around our group, jumped up towards Kelsey and snatched the big bag of mixed nuts out of Kelsey's hands. He ran off and enjoyed a great snack that day. Kelsey still has a souvenir from this experience though. When the monkey grabbed one side of the zip-lock bag, Kelsey kept a grip on the other side. When the monkey ran off, the bag tore open and only left Kelsey with a corner of the bag.

 After descending the Rock of Gibraltar we traveled to the ferry that would take us across the Straits of Gibraltar and in to the city of Ceuta in Morocco. Ceuta is a Spanish controlled city in north Africa and has a lot of different cultures mixed together there. After busing through Ceuta we crossed the border into M’Diq, which was the first African city we encountered. We checked into the hotel in M’Diq and got situated in our rooms then went out to explore the Moroccan city.

Everyone who was on the walkway was looking at the 5 of us like we were aliens who had just landed in their city. Compared to the women wearing robes and covering their heads with scarves, our jeans and T-shirts must have seemed pretty odd. To blend in Kelsey and the girls decided to get Henna tattoos for only 3 Euros, or 30 Durham. Durham is the Moroccan currency that is equal to about one-tenth of a euro.

I have many more pictures from this past trip but ran out of time to upload the rest right now. We got back from Morocco on Monday night and Feria de Abril is already in full swing. I don’t think I can describe to you how extravagant Feria is, but I will try to do my best with pictures and a few details. If you really want to see more you can google Feria and you’ll see that amazing colors of the April fair. This is when the famous Spanish dresses come out and everyone heads to the fair grounds for endless eating, drinking and especially dancing. We got there at 5pm yesterday and met with some friends to go to a public tent. (There are public and private tents in the fair). We got some Rebujitos (Manzanilla mix with soda) and started dancing the Sevillana. The music and singing was great and we really got a glimpse into how special this festival is to the Spanish culture. Families would sit together and dance with each other for the whole day, while eating and clapping and cheering on their friends. We stayed and danced and ate and drank until around 1 in the morning. After sleeping in late this morning I headed to Starbucks where I am currently typing out this blog post.

The reason I have to go before finishing uploading all my pictures is because Kelsey, Chuck, Jodi and I are going to see a bullfight today. We bought the tickets last week and the atmosphere at the bull ring is amazing to say the least. I will return to this blog and finish it up as soon as I can. I'll also be doing the blog for our first night of Feria and then the bullfight from today. Hope you all enjoy. Adios!


OK. So I'm back to a place with internet now and I'll complete the Morocco trip post and then fill you in with Feria and the bull fight that we just got back from.

Our tour guide, Achmed, led us through the city of Chefchaouen with ease. He was a local who knew every corner of his city and showed us all the greatest parts of his home. He took pictures with everyone and was great at communicating exactly what he needed. One of the funniest moments of the tour was when he pulled out his iPhone to get on Facebook and find of picture of his friend. Our day with Achmed came to a close and we took our bus from Chefchaouen to Tangier. Our tour guide took us to a really nice restaurant and then some other really cool places.

 Kelsey and I with our ever present violinista, Ally.

 We made our way through the "Medina" or city center and into a natural pharmacy. They sold different  types of herbs and spices to cure all kinds of ailments.

 They also sold massages and Kelsey is not one to turn down a massage.



     After leaving the medina of Tangiers we took our tour bus to the hotel for the night. On the way to the hotel we experienced something that I don't think any of us will ever forget. As the bus slowed down to drive around a round about a group of about 4 young kids ran up along side the bus. They started to bang on the side of the bus with their hands and bottles and began to run in front of the bus. Because the driver was going fairly slow due to the traffic, the kids were able to run in front of the bus with out much fear of being hit. While this group of kids were on the side and in from of our bus, on the inside of the bus we were trying to figure out what was going on. Many of us thought they were trying to break in to the bottom of the bus where all our luggage was stored. Nobody knew what was going on and the bus driver could only lay on his horn as the kids jumped in front of his bus and pounded the side of it trying to stop him. When our vehicle slowed down enough, one small kid tried to roll underneath the bus. The tour guide told the driver not to stop and keep moving as much as he could until we got to the hotel.

It wasn't until we got out of the bus, under the supervision of local police, and checked into the hotel that our tour guides told us what was going on. We were told that instead of trying to break into the bus and steal our luggage, the kids were trying to roll under the bus and try to cross the border underneath our moving vehicle. We were astonished. We were about 20 kilometers from the Spanish border and then we would have to wait another 45 minuted at the border to get all the way through. There was no way these kids could have held on the whole time, but our guide told us otherwise. Many young kids try to leave Morocco all the time and escape to the more inviting and peaceful Spain.

After checking in to the hotel and getting settled in, we were treated to dinner and a show. We saw some traditional Moroccan dancers, gymnasts, a magician and a belly dancer. I was fortunately picked by the belly dancer to accompany her in the dancing. Some of my "friends" took pictures that I will reluctantly put on this blog.

So after that exciting night we got some sleep and prepared for our last day in Morocco. We checked out of the hotel and drove up some hills and around some curves until we reached the place where our group could ride some camels. There were only 5 adult camels and 3 young camels so only 5 people could ride at a time. Kelsey, Jodi, Britney, Ally and I waited until we could all 5 get on a camel at the same time and took a short ride around. 

Then our group drove for a few minutes to the Cave of Hercules. Our guide didn't tell us anything special about the caves but I just knew it was special because I had seen it on some postcards.

After the caves we took our bus back to the ferry and headed back to Spain.

We just had to be in the bus for 2 and a half more hours then we would be back in Sevilla, but nobody could make it that long without falling asleep.

Our Morocco trip was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the culture of a few cities in the African kingdom. Unfortunately we only had a few days to explore and I'm sure there is a lot more to the country than we saw in our short stay. Next up is my post about coming back from Morocco and going to Feria de Abril in Sevilla. I'll start on that very shortly. Adios!

Beach trip to Portugal

This past weekend Kelsey, Chuck, Jodi and I went on a trip to Portugal with a travel group here in Sevilla. The agency is called We Love Spain and they put together amazing trips for international students for really affordable prices. We took 4 busses full of students looking for a great weekend at the beach and none of us were disappointed.

This was a place in Portugal known as the "End of the world." It is a huge cliff on the coast that the Romans thought was where the world ended. We were on our way to the beach and we were not ready for the ferocious winds and chilling cold at all (as you can tell by the shorts and flip flops.)

We made it to the beach which was exactly what we all needed. A little sun and sand was a great treat because a few of us had really started to miss the Florida beaches. Me and Chuck climbed up a rock formation that was a short, cold swim away. For some reason my pictures are uploading out of order but I'll put more pictures of this later.

The morning after we arrived in Portugal Kelsey and I treated our friends to scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. Chuck got a hold of my camera and took some great pictures of himself and Jodi. (also out of order for some reason)

 

 Kelsey had a short modeling shoot at the beach

This is our small group of friends who we hung out with on the beach for the day. It was awesome to be there with our good friends from school.

This is Kelsey at the "End of the world" cliff showing everyone exactly how windy it was.

And Jodi decided to show how windy it was in a different way.

 This is a cave we found on the beach where we had to climb over that wall to get to. Pretty adventurous stuff.

Chuck and I after conquering the rock in Portugal. We then had to jump in the cold water and shiver back to the beach.

Kelsey begged me to take a picture of the cutest kid and his dog she had ever seen. The dog would chase him and the ball for hours if they let it.

 This was a mind blowing view of a great rock formation at the bottom of a cliff there at the beach. I wish the water was warmer because we would have gone swimming around the rocks.

 A view from inside of the cave we found

 After a long day at the beach we got some food to go and ate at our apartment complex.

 This was the last beach we visited on our Portugal trip. It's essentially the view of a postcard.

The crew enjoying their last day at the beach, and avoiding the cold water.

And finally the pictures of Jodi and Chuck that they took of themselves while we cooked. Thanks for the great way to remember you guys by!

And so ended our trip to Portugal and the beautiful beaches. This week we are busy with school work, presentations and getting ready for our next trips. This weekend we are going to Morocco with the same We Love Spain group and we are really excited. We are also in the planning stages for planning our Italy trip at the end of the semester. Our flight home from Rome is booked for the end of May and we'll be leaving from Rome. So now we just have to plan a trip with the final destination as Rome, which should be a great way to end an amazing semester here in Europe. I know I have seen a lot but there is so much that I will leave here with out seeing. I understand that it's almost impossible to see every city and little town in the world but this experience has really opened my eyes as to how much there is to see, how many great people are in this world and how much I want to see all that I can. I don't want to get into a deep monologue about making sure I do everything I want to do in life so I'll just leave the post at this. Hope you really enjoyed the pictures and look out for the next ones from Morocco. Adios