Thanks to “Singstar” last night, your writer’s voice is almost on strike today dear readers!
It was actually the first time I had ever played this video game. In general I’m not that much of a video/computer game person and the only similar one I had tried before was “Guitar Hero”; which caused on me a temporary obsession when I did, because it is pretty entertaining to be honest. At least, until you get to the ‘Hard’ level of difficulty, because then I was the most annoying of ‘fake guitar’ players who set foot on Earth. I figured that, in any case, if I would spend that amount of time learning how to play a fake guitar I might as well spend it on learning how to play a real one… which in my opinion makes more sense.
But if I am an unbearable Guitar Hero player, I don’t want to even get started on how terrible I am at singing. ‘The human equivalence to fingernails on a chalkboard’ is a suitable description for my voice. And the worse thing is that I enjoy it, so I am not the least merciful to those listeners present in close surroundings!
Yesterday I have no clue of why my friend’s neighbors did not call the police (which here happens very often if you are being loud), because we were “breaking a leg” (or in my case “breaking a window”) by singing all kinds of ‘tunes’ in the terrace until early in the morning. Blink 182, Fool’s Garden, The offspring, Sixpence Non the Richer, Supertramp… and more embarrassing ones including Nicky Minaj and the Vengaboys; no idea how this happened! At least we skipped Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” and Britney Spear’s “Womanizer”!
The worse one of the night to sing though, was these kids’ one… The Hanson with the “Mmmbop” song. Oh no, not possible! I’ll practice it from now on (poor house mates!) and perhaps I’ll break no more windows next time!
What am I writing about? Ok. I stop. Go to the real topic!
I do not know if many of you are aware that in Spain it is very common to have a lot of ‘festivities’.
[I mean if the King was to break one of his toes tomorrow, then it will remain ‘The King’s Toe Day’ for the rest of the country’s history, probably. Looking for another reason to party or to practice the so called “Spanish Triathlon”, as they might say…]
Just three weeks ago there was Semana Santa, which completely paralyzed Sevilla for a few days and every day after midday. Now, this past week it was a very similar story, but this time’s excuse was: The ‘Feria de Abril’.
What is the feria?
Apparently, the feria started as an agriculture and livestock (cattle rancher) type of activity; where an exposition of bulls, horses, oxen and rams used to take place. Now it has evolved to this more of a spectacle/party kind of activity; where instead of agriculture and livestock business people gathering together, there are entire families meeting for this traditional occasion.
What happens during the feria?
Well, the feria takes place in a fixed location (though you will definitely notice it through the whole city), where you will find a large amount of ‘casetas’; which are this sort of tents or stands types-of-place where people gather to drink, eat and dance basically. There are some ‘casetas’ that are private and others that are public. To the private ones you have to know someone who is inside in order to get in and to the public ones of course everyone is allowed to enter.
The party goes on for the whole day and night 7 days a week; practically from 11:00 am to 10:00 am of the next day. All of this, of course, if you are able to stand the amount of heat there, because there were days in which the temperature reached 41°C. Desert weather! This doesn’t make a difference for the ‘Sevillanos’, as you will still see them all suited up with their jackets and all, some even wearing black… An outstanding high heat tolerance!
Horses, mules, ponies, dresses and‘casetas’ from all kinds of colors; the traditional drink ‘Rebujito’ (‘Manzanilla’ wine mixed with Sprite and Fanta) and of course the ‘Sevillanas’ music as the celebration’s official sound track. If you are searching for an authentically Spanish experience, then this is it! I myself have never seen anything like this before, and I think it is very nice and interesting to see how traditions like this are still kept this strongly within a group of people. I really enjoyed watching all of it; great, great.
Hasta la próxima dear readers!
Peace out (!)
Your writer,
Maria
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