No es Adios, es hasta luego Sevilla

Here it is. My last week in Sevilla. I could not believe how fast the time went. At one hand I felt like I had just arrived in Seville a few weeks ago, but on the other hand I felt as though I had been there for years. My life was so different and wonderful in Spain. I did NOT want it to end!! But all good things must end. 

After not putting too much time into studying all semester, I pulled an all-nighter for my finals...oops! But it was worth it, because I got straight A's this past semester :) After finals we had a long weekend, the last weekend in my beloved Sevilla. Many people took this time for any last minute travels, but my close friends and I decided to make the most of our last few days in Sevilla by staying home. This long weekend was probably one of my favorite weekends in Sevilla. My friends and I spent afternoons drinking tinto de verano by the river, went shopping at the markets and European stores while we still could, and visited our favorite restaurants and bars one last time. 

Sarah, Me, and Casey going to a market by the river

We also made some pretty cool memories that weekend going to a Sevilla FC futbol game, swimming on a rooftop pool of the hotel Casey's host mom works at, going to the end of the semester party at CIEE, and (not pictured) randomly deciding to go to a karaoke bar one night and singing in Spanglish to a wide variety of music with some friendly Spaniards! Oh I miss this :(

GO SEVILLA! 

It was SO HOT! Pool time was needed.

Saying goodbye at the end of the semester party 

After a great weekend more fun was to be had..FERIA!!!

Feria is the HUGE flamenco festival full of lots of dancing, singing, drinking, eating, horse rides, and carnival rides. It is the epitome of la cultura Sevillana. Flamenco includes the combination of singing, guitar playing, dancing, and clapping. Flamenco is a huge part of Spanish culture, which originated in Andalusia with the Gitanos (gypsies). The typical flamenco dress is also based on the Gitanos. Flamenco is in the blood of every Sevillano. Everyone grew up knowing the four different types of dance of flamenco, ready to dance at any occasion and of course every year at Feria. 

So the fair grounds were just down the road from my apartment, which was very convenient! Every year they rebuild the arch and all of the tents and then take them all down again a week later. It takes a lot of effort! Feria first begins at midnight on Monday night. That is when the lights to the main entrance arch light up and people start the festivities! 

In the morning I went and met up with my good friend, Amy Lang, at the bus station. She had been studying abroad in Florence, Italy the same time I was in Sevilla and flew over to meet me in Sevilla to experience feria before we took off on our 3 week Eurotrip! She is an old high school friend and a fellow Badger, so I knew that we were going to have a great, memorable time together. It was awesome showing her around Sevilla! 

At the top of the Giralda 

Later that night, the whole gang and more met at our favorite bar outside our apartment before feria to have one last drink together.

During the opening night of feria no one dresses up in flamenco dresses, but instead dresses up in nice clothing for the event.

Sarah, Jen, me and Beth waiting for the lighting of the arch!

It's midnight!!

All of the decorations and lights were so pretty!

There are two parts to feria. One part consists of all of the casetas, which are the food and drink tents owned by different groups in Sevilla like businesses, clubs, neighborhoods, families, etc. There are a few public tents, but for the most part you need to know somebody to be able to go into a tent. The tents are wear the drinking, eating, and dancing happen. Each one is decorated beautifully in the feria style. The second part is the carnival! It is pretty much the same as a carnival in the United States.

The Ferris wheel ride was quite the adventure. It started out as a nice, classic ride and then we started to pick up some speed...

The next thing we know we are flying through the air at high speeds like a roller coaster...is this even safe!?

After a late night riding rides, we got up the next day to start preparing for the first day of feria. My host sister let us borrow her old dresses that my host mom had made. My host dad then presented me with a hand painted fan that he made for me for feria. How cool! He even made five others for all of my sisters and my mom. I seriously had the best host family ever!! My host sister and mom then spent the whole morning doing our hair, make-up, and accessories to make us look as Sevillana as possible.

Getting ready in the bathroom!

Finished product!

Pretty ladies!

 

Me and my beautiful host sister, Laura!

Pepe, Ana Maria, and me! 

After getting ready, my friends and I met up and we headed over to the fair together. Upon arriving we were bombarded with tons of people asking for our photo..even a photographer for the newspaper! I felt like a celebrity! All of the Spanish were staring and calling us "muy guapa." I don't know if it was because we were a large group of pretty, young women dressed in a variety of flamenco dresses or because we were American...either way I had never felt so loved in Sevilla!

Using our fans like pros!

It was one HOT day out! To keep cool we spent the day hopping from one caseta to another ordering soda, water, and of course the typical feria drink, Rebujito! 

Me striking a fierce pose

A giant part of feria is the hundreds of horses and horse drawn carriages riding around. The streets were full of them! We were going to have a ride, but it was waaaay to pricey to be worth it!

The casetas were almost as hot as the air outside...my fan saved my life!

Me, Sarah, and Hannah

Even though we didn't know how to dance flamenco, we participated as well as we could!

Feria was an amazing, cultural experience that I am so thankful to have had. How many Americans get to dress up in an authentic flamenco dress and be able to dance and drink with a bunch of really cool Spaniards all day? It was a great way to end my time in Sevilla.

That night I had to tearfully say good bye to all of my amazing friends that I had gotten so close to that semester. Considering they live all over the U.S., it was a pretty hard goodbye :( After those hard good byes I had to get up the next morning and make more good byes, this time to my host family. They kept reminding me that this wasn't a goodbye, it's a see you later. But still I left never knowing if I will see them again. After all I shared with them and my friends it was over. Getting on that train leaving Seville was one of the hardest things I have done.

Me saying goodbye to my abuela

 I miss my time in Sevilla so much every day. It was an amazing place with amazing people. It was the best semester of my life and I can not thank my parents enough for allowing me to have this invaluable opportunity. 

El pueblo de americanos

After my crazy week in Germany and Czech Republic then rushing home for a day of watching Pasos for Semana Santa, my host family proceeds to tell me, "Oh yeah, we are going to our beach house tomorrow..pack up!" Whaaa!? So I threw some stuff together, hopped in my family's car, and rode 1.5 hours to the small beach town, Rota. If you want to picture this tiny town, imagine any typical Florida beach tourist town. Lots of ice cream shops, burger joints, and dorky bars surrounding a beautiful and very crowded beach. Wait....ice cream and burger joints in Spain?! Well, this very popular beach town also happens house one of the United State's most important naval bases. It is right off of the Straight of Gibraltar, which is about the half way point from the U.S. to the Middle East. This base is actually shared with the Spanish, but "shared" is a loose term. The U.S. dominates with huge ships on the coast, giant jets landing and taking off frequently, and a few thousand Americans (soldiers and their families). Inside the base are baseball diamonds, movie theaters playing American films, and even a Ben and Jerry's! The American influence has spread into the town of Rota as well; the first burger joint in Spain was in Rota. 

The U.S. first started using this base in 1953 in a deal with Franco that the U.S. would supply military, economical, social, and political support to Spain in exchange for use of the Naval base. The base itself is HUGE, with most of its land just being trees and open fields...my host family was a little bitter about the wasted space. 

When we got there my host family and I went to their favorite bar and ordered flamenquines...the best things ever!! They are pork wrapped in ham with cheese, all breaded and fried, yum! After lunch my host sister, Laura, gave me a tour of the small town. The beach was beautiful! We relaxed for a bit on the beach, but it was a little too windy, so we continued to walk around the town.

Like any Spanish town there was a old castle! They restored it and now it is the Town Hall. Pretty cool!

Cute alleyway by the castle! 

After our tour, we settled in for dinner and t.v. with the family. The next day was raining, so we all relaxed in the apartment, spending time together and catching up on sleep!

Rota Visit #2

Just a week after visiting Rota with my host family, I took a field trip there with my class about U.S. History through Spain's perception. For educational purposes we were allowed onto the base to learn about the lifestyle of the Spaniards and Americans who live there. We learned in class, that when the Americans were settling there it was a sight that no Spaniard had ever seen. Everything seemed giant and very modern. Up to this point Spain had been isolated, so American influence was very strong. 

When we arrived we went through Spanish security. It seemed a little relaxed for being an American base, but I guess the Spaniards are in charge of security, so the American's there don't get a say! We first went to visit the air crafts and we were amazed by the size. These planes were huge!! The Americans leading us around were giving their talks all in English of course, but after being in Spain so long it was really weird to hear our tour guide speaking in English and watching our professors struggle to understand for once! 

Our tour guide said that this was one of our newest models and cost millions to make. I asked how many we had and he said 50...of just this model..Wow!

The huge inside of the plane

You had to climb this steep ladder to get to the place where soldiers sit. It looked like a regular commercial jet up top! 

So many buttons!!

After the tour of the plane we watched a presentation with one of the officers from the base. It was very interesting to hear the soldiers view of life here in Spain. The officer made sure to point out that this is a Spanish base and we are just using it. They are very respectful of that and hold several charity events for the Spanish living around the base. It was a weird experience to be away from American culture for so long to all of the sudden be thrown into an American military base. It was like two worlds colliding!

I was amazed at how little I knew about the culture of our serving men and women abroad. They are living in a foreign country, not being able to speak the language, having to raise their children on the base with the facilities they have. I am even more grateful now for the serving men and women and their families who sacrifice so much for us. It was a very eye-opening experience to see this in person.

After the presentation we looked around outside a bit and then headed to the beach where we saw the port from a distance. The ships were huge! There was even a section of the beach inside the base just for the soldiers and their families living there.

It was also interesting that the Spanish professors kept saying how the inside of the base was like a mini-America. How the buildings and everything were huge and had American style. I don't know about you...but these buildings in the picture below do not look American at all! But anyway it was fun to see how my professors got so excited to be in mini-America and taking tons of pictures in the huge jet.

The port 

We then had a bunch of free time where we relaxed on the beach while our professors went to the local bar and had a good time. We ended the day with a short tour of the castle. It had great views!

An old church by the castle

It was a great experience visiting the naval base and seeing how my two cultures collide in a small beach town on the coast of Spain. Traveling brings you to unique places.

Also, remember to thank one of the many men and women who are serving or who have served!

Semana Santa: Una semana de Jesús

During my last two posts I wrote about my adventures during my "Spring Break." In reality, it wasn't really a Spring Break, but a week off for celebration in Spain: Holy Week. Instead of hiding Easter eggs and eating candy on Easter Sunday, the Spanish are a little more intense in their celebrating and dedicate the whole week to eating, socializing, and watching processions. This tradition dates back to the 16th century! I don't want to say every Spaniard, but pretty dang close to almost every Spaniard is Catholic and during Semana Santa they sure show it proudly.

There are many Semana Santa celebrations around Spain, but the one in Sevilla is the most important. Sarah and I did not want to miss out on all of the festivities, so we raced back to Sevilla on Good Friday to see some of the celebrations. Many students traveled for the entire week, but I am so glad that we came back to see some of it. Sevilla was transformed with the thousands of people there to witness the processions!

Pasos

During Semana Santa people from all over the world join the Spaniards in watching the processions. The processions consist of many people and two pasos; one with the Passion of Christ and one with the mourning Virgin Mary. Pasos are very large floats that are made of wood, and covered in gold or silver. They date back to the 16th century and are decorated with flowers, candles, biblical scenes, and a figure of either Christ or the Virgen. These Pasos weigh A LOT and to keep up with tradition are carried on the backs of MEN. The processions last all Holy Week, with a schedule of different processions going different days. 

The mourning Virgen

Churches around Sevilla have their own procession with their own floats. The processions leave from the church, make their way through the city to the Cathedral, and then make their way back to the church. Because of the weight and how fragile the pasos are, the processions go very slowly. They are hours long, some taking even 12 hours! When it is not Semana Santa, they keep the figures of Mary and Christ in the altars in the church.

Virgin Mary in the altar 

Jesus  Christ in an altar

The beautiful detail of the manto de la Virgen. A cloak that the figures where. 

The week before Semana Santa Sarah and I visited the different churches around our barrio (neighborhood) with her host mom to see all of the different Christos, Virgenes, and Pasos that were being set-up.

Look at all of those candles!!

The People of Semana Santa 

Each procession is organized by a different brotherhood from a different church. The brotherhoods organize and upkeep the whole procession process for their church. Every brotherhood is represented by a different color cape worn by the Nazarenos.

Nazarenos

The Nazarenos are various people from the brotherhood who walk alongside the pasos. They wear tall, cone-shaped hats that cover the face. This reminds Americans of a very unpopular group from history, but do not worry, because the two are not related. This type of dress symbolizes their rising towards the heavens, which brings their penitence closer to the heavens. They cover their faces to mourn the death of Jesus Christ. Nazarenos are traditionally all male, but in recent years some females have stepped into the role as well. They carry long candles and other religious treasure.

 

You can pay for a seat by the Cathedral to watch all of the processions go by! 

Little kids would walk in the processions for hours, throwing out candy to the children watching.

There is no age requirement! 

Costaleros 

These are the men who do all of the muscle work. There are up to 40 men carrying one heavy float on their backs. They march underneath a cloth, to make it appear that they are not there. They need to walk in synch and sway the float back and forth to the music while they march. To make it out of the doorways of churches they often times need to crawl on their hands and knees out the door with the float on their backs. During the weeks before Semana Santa, I witnessed these men practicing through the streets many times!

La Banda

The music of Semana Santa was my favorite part! Behind the pasos there would be a marching band playing traditional Semana Santa music, which consists of minor keys and sorrowful sounds. Even though it had a sad sound to it, I loved hearing the music! The musicians were all so good (I could also hear them practicing around town before Semana Santa started), and the music gave me chills to hear!

The Spanish have to take a smoke break even while playing their instrument in a religious ceremony...

La gente

There were SO MANY people in Sevilla for Semana Santa. The streets were unrecognizable with the thousands of people in them! 

Because of the heat of the day and the Spanish late life-style, the streets were even more packed at night!

People generally dress very nice in dresses and suits. They watch the pasos by either buying a seat by the cathedral, watching from an apartment balcony, or pushing through the crowds on the sides of the streets. The most important day of Semana Santa is the Thursday night before Good Friday, into the early morning of Good Friday. During this time some of the most popular processions occur. They are the churches from the Triana neighborhood (that is where I lived!!!). During these processions the women wear mantillas (black shawls) accompanied by a black dress to mourn the death of Christ. Unfortunately, Sarah and I were still in Germany this night, so we missed it!

My Experience

Sarah and I raced back on Good Friday to catch all of the processions on that day. We pushed our way through the crowds on a very hot day to get an up close look at the beautiful pasos. We looked at the schedule and map and caught a glimpse of almost every single one of them that day somewhere in their path! The crowds sometimes made me feel a little claustrophobic, but for the most part we tried to squeeze our way to the front or stay in the back.

 My host family buys seats by the Cathedral every year, so they went most days to go sit and watch the pasos. There are certain desserts and food that are typical of Semana Santa. My host family made me torrijas, which are pretty much baby french toast. For actual Easter Day (Pascua), my host family didn't do anything special. They didn't even recognize it as a holiday! For dinner we had frozen pizza....where's the huge ham dinner!?!? I guess their lack of celebration of actual Easter is made up by their week long celebration of Holy Week. I was still a little sad to miss my mom's yummy ham dinner though! 

Man re-lighting the candles!

The busy Cathedral as a paso exits the back

The lit up candles at night were gorgeous! 

I am so thankful that I returned that week to have this rich, cultural experience. I have never experienced anything like Semana Santa in my life, and I don't think I ever will again. The strong tradition was beautiful. Yeah they could make life easier and use vehicles to pull around the pasos, but the fact that they still use man power to keep the symbolism and tradition alive is amazing. I was left very envious of the Spanish and wish that my culture had any strong traditions like theirs.