The Beginning of Feria

Monday April 7, 2008

I woke up today at 1pm, which is the latest that I have ever slept in here in Spain but I guess when you don’t get home from Portugal until 5:30am it makes a little more sense. Today I checked my mail, worked on homework and caught up on my blogs from the past weekend. It was a pretty boring day to “kick off Feria” with, but it was raining and there wasn’t much else to do. We stayed up until midnight to watch the kick-off of Feria where they light the huge doorway/entrance of Feria with millions of lights to signify the beginning of the 7-day festival. Feria is a Sevilla tradition filled with flamenco dancing, drinking, eating, spending time with friends, and the beginning of the bullfighting season. There are special grounds for Feria across the river and many people have little houses (“cosetas”) that are set up for the week. It’s common for the men and women to dress up, to ride horses, and celebrate Feria by dancing “Sevillanas,” the traditional dance of Feria.

Also, today I started thinking about going home and I’m not really all that excited about it. It’s probably because this passed week I had to miss Greek Week, Lip Sync, and Pi Phi Formal, all of which I adore. It’s hard to see pictures off all of my friends doing these activities without me…so currently I’m avoiding Facebook like the plague. It amazes me how the time has just flown by, but I’m excited to come home to see friends and family, to eat food with taste and to take long showers again...so don’t get me wrong! I love Sevilla and I wouldn’t trade my experiences here for anything in the world but in the words of Dorothy, “there’s no place like home.”