flashback // Spanish feria

Sometime last week, a friend on my facebook feed who still lives in Spain mentioned going to the local feria, and bam....I started missing Spain again. I know at some point, I'm going to have to stop with all the España posts, because obviously, I live here now, and the whole point of this blog is to share my new adventures in California, but dang, it's hard sometimes.

Back to feria though. It's basically the country's week-long party held a couple weeks after their Easter Holy Week, and in my humble opinion, it's full of the best parts of Spanish culture: Sevillana dancing, sherry, tapas, friends, huge jugs of rebujitos, dancing your little butts off, and those delicious chocolate buñuelos.

Here are some photos I took at last year's feria in Puerto de Santa Maria (taken with my Diana Mini film camera).

The Spanish women get dolled up in the most gorgeous Sevillana dresses, and for them, it's a huge deal. Many will get them custom-made like, months in advance. Even pushing a stroller, that woman looks super classy. In fact, I barely even notice the stroller.

The best part of feria? A delicious pitcher of rebujito (a dry sherry mixed with Sprite). There I am, holding my prize. The second best part of feria? Walking anywhere you want with your pitcher of rebujito, because this isn't America where they section off a drinking-only zone because they think we can't handle ourselves (I'm looking at you, Cinco de Mayo festival in Old Town).

Pardon the blurriness, but I do love this photo. It's a group of little girls (and maybe a boy or two) dancing a traditional Sevillana dance. Yep. They get in on the feria action too, and they kill it.

Feria's motto should be: "You won't leave hungry." And if you come to feria on a full stomach, you're an idiot, cause sometimes things just taste better served fried and under a tent.

Amigos buying tickets for a ride. Adult-friendly rides. Rides that were set up within a day. Perfectly safe.

No, it's not a Tron movie. Just that perfectly safe ride I was talking about.

Speaking of rides, here's what several seconds of bumper cars looks like to a camera lens.

Do you like cheap shopping? I do. And feria has cheap shopping. Mostly clothes and bags and jewelry. Lots of jewelry. Granted, every bracelet I bought from feria broke after about a year, but that's okay, cause it was only 2 euros.

Double-exposure/blurry goodness. But I actually love it like that, cause it kind of embodies what feria was like for me. Chaotic, crowded, dusty, bright lights, and just damn FUN.