Thoughts:
1) I actually find the dresses quite ugly when out of context (and the plastic, cheap-looking jewelry, too). Walking to the feria, you see these very elaborate, polyester dresses just chilling in normal parts of the city. It seems a bit out of place. But then, when you get to feria, it all clicks. The dresses aren't individual anymore; they're a group, and the rainbow, bright colors under the blue Sevilla sky and hot sun look fantastic. Very festive. The colors and styles really pop.
2) On Tuesday, I went back to the feria by myself and just walked around. I wanted to take some good photos and enjoy the scene by myself. Then, on Wednesday, I met up with Cristina and her friends and we went and had lunch inside a caseta before I departed to go to Paris (blog entry coming soon). It was fun -- it was really just like any bar, except it was inside a nice tent and some of the people were all dolled up.
3) The contrast of dolled up/not dolled up is interesting. Some people go to feria in traditional dresses and the whatnot (old and young alike), but others just ignore it and go to hang out and have a good time. In truth, the dressing up isn't necessary. Fun for dancing and traditional, yes, but also kind of pointless. A lot of feria is sitting, eating, drinking, and talking, and it really doesn't matter if you have on a frou frou polyester suit for that or not.
4) Cristina dressed in her traditional outfit on Wednesday, and she showed me how under one of the ruffles in the bottom of her dress, there is a pouch with a zipper for her cell phone, money, keys, etc. You can't see it normally, but it's there, and prevents a purse from being necessary. Totally, absolutely ingenius. I want one installed in my normal clothing!
5) Feria during lunch time was a different world. Except in the bigger casetas, people weren't dancing so much as eating and sitting and talking. I imagine the dancing happens more between meals and after dinner. It's not all constant all the time--sometimes there is limited space and people need to eat! (We ate standing up at the bar because there were so many people crowded into the back of the caseta. Very typical Spanish.)
I also just found what I wrote immediately after going to the feria on Tuesday. There's some overlap in thought, but it's worth posting, anyway. It's kind of like a journal entry that I saved for later and then promptly forgot about. Ahem:
~ Day Two: Walking around by myself ~
I went for a walk to and around feria today, and it is definitely in full swing.
On the 40min walk over, there weren’t many people on the street—everything was quiet—except for the growing trickle of women in flamenco dresses, very done up, and men dressed in suits. Occasionally a horse and carriage would go by (and in the city sprawl where I live that is not picturesque at all, I find this slightly humorous) or some señoritos on horses would ride by. As I got closer and closer to feria, the crowds got bigger and the dresses and colors became more plentiful.
Once I got inside of the portada in feria, it was sensory overload. The colors were just overwhelming, with all the different flamenco dresses and color combinations. I have to say, I don’t actually think I’m a big fan of the style—it seems very polyestery and the colors are very intense—but it just confirmed my original impression that, in a lot of ways, feria is like prom. It’s an excuse to get dressed up, to go out with friends, to spend money, to see and be seen. So, the colors were one thing. The smell of poop was another. That’s the problem with having a bunch of horses riding around through the feria in Sevilla heat. The poop factor was not pleasant, although they had street cleaners around, doing their thing, too. I could hear glasses clinking inside of the casetas, lots of talking and laughing, and the rustling of the dresses as they went by.
I walked around taking pictures, taking it in, and I realized that I am really bad at taking pictures of other people if I don’t know them. It makes me uncomfortable. I didn’t like being there in my informal clothing with my big camera, taking pictures of locals who I didn’t know. So I don’t think I could be a professional photographer… I feel too much like I’m invading privacy when it comes to taking pictures of people.
The contrast of tradition and modern times was also interesting. For example, there were groups of wealthier people going to the feria in their horse-drawn carriages, all dolled up. Then there were also women on their vespas, in full feria form, with a helmet on and zooming past the carriages on the way to the same feria. Yep. I found it comical, anyway.
I guess at this point the best I can do is post some of the pictures that I took, although I know I had more to say. It is very weird to be sitting here in my room the apartment, and rather than hearing traffic go by, hearing horses on their way to the feria!
Enjoy!
Before rushing out to the airport, Mayte and Fernando took some pictures of me. This is not a great one of Mayte, but it shows the outfit that I wore to feria on Wednesday. I was very proud. Fernando and Mayte kept clucking over how Spanish I looked. It's hard to see in the pic, but I had all the jewelry and flowers and hair stuff necessary to pull off the Spanish Flamenca look (a lot of it from Cristina). Without the traditional dress, of course!
At the feria with Cristina.
Photos from Tuesday, when I went around taking pictures of random people (I don't like doing that, even though there were some beautiful photos to be had. It makes me feel like a creeper.)
Girls my age doing their thing at feria.
This is probably my favorite -- it captures the tents and the colorful hangings (that turn on at night) really well.And now, into a week of a hellish amount of work... but all worth it, in the end. I'll post about Paris tomorrow, most likely.
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