"I wouldn't want to mess with him. He could pull out his blow gun." - Mom

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early in order to catch the first bus of the morning to Huelva and then to Seville. As expected the bus to Huelva took it’s sweet time and I just missed the bus at 9am by 5 minutes, which is the equivalent of having to wait in line to buy a ticket instead of simply purchasing one on the bus. I would much prefer missing the bus by 15 minutes or even a half hour, but seeing the bus pull away and having to spend another hour just sitting at the bus station sucks to high heavens. When I got to Seville I took my usual route from the bus station to the center of Seville. I know that part of Seville very well, but it was a lot trickier finding my parents hotel since there are no direct roads in Seville. You have to take several side streets (aka tiny alleys) that aren’t on any map just to find your destination. That’s just how it goes. I thought I knew how to get there but after taking one wrong turn I couldn’t locate my position so I pulled out the map and tried my best to figure where I went wrong all while sweating profusely. As I was doing this a man came up to me and asked if I needed help finding something. I told him in Spanish but he responded in English (as usual). He took my bag and my sweater and told me to follow him. He said that he had lived in Austen, Texas for a few years so he was familiar with English and America. As we got to the hotel I saw my dad sitting in the lobby, waiting for me. The man introduced himself to my dad (his name was Paco) and told him he was meeting his future son-in-law. It was a joke. Paco left and I was finally reunited with my parents.

When the room was finally ready we put our bags inside, freshened up and then headed to Plaza Espana and then to the Feria which was located a good ways away across the bridge in Barrio Triana. It was very hot out but that didn’t stop the women and children from wearing long dresses and sometimes matching shawls. Even little babies were dressed for the occasion. Each little girl swimming in a see of brightly colored polka dots with matching accessories. The colors were amazing and the fact that every woman had matching shoes to their dress was quite impressive. The men for the most part were not dressed up, but little boys were. The occasional man would strut down the central road, riding his horse or “cruising” as my dad called it. He believed that the men and woman riding their horses was no different from men and women driving their convertibles and showing off. The entrance to Feria is marked by a giant structure of curves and colors that changes every year. It is an impressive sight but probably a lot prettier at night when it is all lit up. Behind the structure is row after row of casetas or tents. Almost all of them are private, meaning you need to be invited to go in, and manned with a security guard. My friend Nicole told me that if you know enough Spanish you can probably sweet talk your way past any guard. Yeah that doesn’t really apply to me. Each tent is decorated differently and is looks like a portable restaurant dinning area. Some were bigger than others and most of them were playing music. However it must have been hot inside the tents for there were no fans. Apart from the casetas was a giant area dedicated to fair rides and games.

They had everything a normal state fair would have: roller coasters, small rides, carnival games, and the occasional food vendor. It was cool to see a giant ferris wheel but the whole sight was no different from an American carnival EXCEPT for one ride. I kid you not I found a merry-go-round with actual real life ponies. It was quite possibly the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. The little ponies were chained to a contraption that kept them from veering in any direction besides in a circle. This one pony kept hitting his head against the restriction, trying desperately to deviate from the monotonous circle. It broke my heart and I couldn’t watch for more than a few seconds. What seemed so odd to me was that the ride was right next to a normal merry-go-round; you know the one with FAKE animals that go up and down to the conductors delight. Talk about animal cruelty. I was also told that the Feria is a lot of fun at night. Everyone dances Sevilliano, drinks a lot, and enjoys each other’s company. It’s just all about connecting and networking really. You get invited to private tents because you know so and so, who knows another person, who invited your friend, who in return takes you, and so forth. There really isn’t anything in America quite like Feria. My friend Emily said it was kind of like prom; where you buy a dress, shoes, accessories, get your hair done and so on but it’s only for one night. Feria is every year and involves the entire community.

I’m really glad I got a chance to check it out but it definitely would have been better if I had been invited to a private tent or had friends with connections. Being a tourist at Feria isn’t that great. We couldn’t find the public tents (nor were they well marked) and therefore were surrounded by people eating and enjoying themselves in the shade as we salivated and walked tiredly in the hot sun. I had to admit I wasn’t in the best of moods so I was good and ready to leave Feria as soon as my parents were. There weren’t any places to sit down and the only food we could find was a churro, ice cream, and hamburger vendor. How nutritious! I didn’t want to go on any rides and my legs were too tired to really explore the giant fair in order to find the public tents so we headed back to the hotel to rest up. My mom did however buy a flower to put in her hair so that she blended in with the rest of the women at Feria. I on the contrary did not.

Back at the hotel we lucked out and got to watch two Premiere league games as we relaxed and rested before going out to dinner and then to La Carboneria. I took my parents to Levies’ for some awesome tapas for dinner. We sat outside and enjoyed our food. This was my last meal with them so we ordered food that they had yet to try and could also check off their list, okay that only applied to my mother. The food was amazing and my parents especially like the croquetas de espinacas. So much so that we ordered another round of them. After dinner it was just a walk around the corner to the flamenco show. I didn’t expect to be the first ones there but we were so we got the honor of sitting anywhere we wanted. The last thing on my mother’s list of things to try was Sangria and I told her to hold out for the Sangria at La Carboneria because it was fabulous. It didn’t disappoint.

When the performers took the stage I was a little disheartened that the shushing woman and the lead singer wasn’t on stage. It ended up for the better because this woman was much better. She really committed to the dance and showed a lot of passion with her movements, facial expressions, and her hands. She danced with her whole body. The other woman mostly danced from her torso down (not including the hands. That’s an essential part to any flamenco performance). However this singer wasn’t my favorite. I preferred the original guy. The only difference this time around was the addition of a flute player to accompany the talented guitar player. The entire show was very good and I was just happy that my parents got to sit front stage to it. They could really see how fast the woman’s feet moved and how red the hands of “the clapper” got by the end of the show. Another successful night out. I can’t really think of anything going wrong for my parents, which is very fortunate. They got to see everything I wanted them to see and more. They ended up driving through every region in Andalucía except Almeria (no loss there), seven in total and got to see two places I won’t even get a chance to see, Ronda and the Mesquita in Cordoba. My dad got to see his favorite team play up close and personal and my mom got to try everything on her list and then some. I just got the chance to be truly at home, something I’ve only really experienced one other time and that was when Kerry came to visit me.