Feria week

Well, Feria week is over and its back to school for me. Since the school day is over today, that means I only have 9 days left of class (8 for one class)! Woah. The semester is almost over!!

As I explained in my last post, Feria is basically one huge party. It's like a mini city on the outskirts of town that comes alive for a week of dancing, drinking, food, fun, and friends. It was a pretty cool experience. I went out on the first night to see the Alumbrado (lighting), which is when they turn on all the lights at Feria for the first time... hence the name Alumbrado. They start with the main gate of Feria, which this year was designed to look like the towers of the Plaza de España, and then light up the whole place, street by street. A group of us staked out a spot right in front of the portada (main entrance) where we could see both that and some nearby streets so we could see the lighting. I went back out to Feria a couple more times in the beginning of the week and had a really fun time :) I also got algodón dulce (cotton candy). Which I LOVE.

 

By mid-week, I was looking for something to do other than go to Feria again. So I hit up my girl, Elizabeth, and we went together to la Macarena, a neighborhood in Sevilla famous for its church and remnants of a city wall from the 8th-13th centuries. Afterwards we grabbed some pizza and ice cream. The church and the muralla (wall) were pretty cool, but I mostly enjoyed just talking to Elizabeth. It is nice to have one-on-one time with people out here, as most of the time stuff is done in groups. I really enjoy Elizabeth and, since she is from NWC, I'm looking forward to continuing our amistad (friendship) back in the States. :)

La muralla de la Macarena

The next day (or maybe it was 2 days later... I don't remember), Elizabeth and I met up again to go to the Alcazár Real (Royal Palace) in El Centro (the center). Its a really cool old building in the Almohade style of architecture (yes, I know that from my Spanish Art History class :P). The palace itself was great, but I really enjoyed the gardens most. There was even a peacock! Afterwards we grabbed some Rayas ice cream (supposedly the best ice cream in Sevilla - I thought it was pretty good, but nothing mind-blowing).



Around el Alcazár

By the end of the week, the cold that I have been fighting since I came back from England turned into sinusitis (a sinus infection). That was kind of annoying because the entire right side of my face, including my teeth and ear, was throbbing. So, I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics. He also prescribed some antihistamine (pretty normal) and some nasal spray (which I have never used before). The spray is weird. It has this minty flavor and is very strange to use and I don't like it much/at all, but all together, they cleared up the infection. The infection didn't stop me from going to see some flamenco with Elizabeth on Thursday night, though! I LOVE flamenco!!



My señora, María Luísa, in her traje de gitana

For the weekend, I mostly stayed in the house, as I was still recovering from the sinus infection. My señora was pretty confused by this and kept telling me I should go out more, but I just had a relaxing few days in my room reading and watching movies. I did, however, venture up to the roof to sunbathe a couple times, but everytime I was driven back inside by the intense heat of the sun and my incessant sweating. And, I secretly think that my señora enjoyed having me around a little because I offered to help her with hanging the washing up to dry and anything else she needed help with. She took me up on the washing, even telling her husband that we were going to do it together and getting a little annoyed that he was so insistent when he offered to do it for her. :)

Overall, it was a good week.

This week, we have a trip to Huelva coming up, which is apparently the place where Columbus hung out immediately before setting sail for the New World. And, I'm planning on going to Isla Mágica (the amusement park) this Sunday, which should be a good time, especially since the temperature will be dropping down a little for the weekend so I hopefully wont get heat stroke from being out all day. Haha. But really, it is HOT here.

17.5 days left :D

<3 Alannah