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!