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!