Andalucian puente

At the end of an epic April of many university holidays and trips, I went to Andalucia: first to the Feria de Abril in Sevilla and then to Granada.

The Feria is a big 'fair' that originated from horse trading. (In more modern times, it's more about dancing Sevillanas, showing off your feria dress, and drinking Manzanilla). The main part of th fair is composed of 'casetas' which have dancing, music, food and drinks. The majority of the casetas are private and you need some kind of connection to get in. Basically, a group of people (could be a company, university, labor union, public institution or just some friends) hire a bar for their own caseta where they can enjoy a good fiesta with their friends.  There are a few public casetas, some put on by neighborhoods in Sevilla and others by the political parties.

As for the Feria dress, the majority of the girls are dressed in flamenco dresses, with a hair comb, flower, huge earrings, and shawl. Each one is quite costly and the fashion does evolve, although it's difficult to tell for a foreigner which trends are newer or older. 

I was lucky enough to borrow my friend Kirstie's second feria dress, since she had bought two dresses second-hand from her boss. We were invited to the caseta of her (other) boss' family and it was great to have a local experience and see the Sevillanas being danced by Sevillanos. (The Sevillana is a type of flamenco that has many complicated steps. It's quite different from the very soulful, sorrowful flamenco dances.) Afterward, Kirstie and her friends left because they had had such a long day after work and I met up with another friend Begona, who took me to two more casetas. Without local connections, I think you could still have a good time at the Feria but it's so much more fun to be able to check out different private casetas!

Here's the PP caseta (PP is basically the conservative party)... true to its nature, it was luxurious, bougie, and was more of a 5-star restaurant with waiter service than a bar. Everybody was sitting down and eating and nobody was dancing! (Kind of defeats the purpose of feria, I thought). 

PSOE, the more liberal party, seemed like a pretty ordinary caseta. And then there was the communist party´s caseta, which is known to have a great party. And as expected, they had cheaper food and drinks (and even communist paraphanelia).

 After my two days of Feria, I headed to Granada by train. I met up with Jamie, a former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar who is currently getting a Master's in Public Health in Granada, as well as Vicki, a Rotarian who is extremely passionate about her involvement in the community and who has been extremely supportive of all of the Ambassadorial Scholars. It was great to catch up with both of them and quite flattering that Vicki used her frequent flier miles to take a crazy flight to visit us from Los Angeles! Despite some cold rainy weather, we still had a good time in Granada, visiting El Albaicín (the old Moorish quarter famous for its white houses) and La Alhambra.


With Jamie, we had a nice Master-comparing session... her program is well-organized but she feels that the students aren't so motivated as many of them already have careers. I actually feel the complete opposite about my program! The organization is lacking, we don't get much support, and it can be a huge pain to find the right perosn to get help from, but the students are quite motivated and passionate about our subjects especially when they see the immediate applications of what we're learning. I also learned some interesting facts from her and what she is passionate about- how epidemiologic studies can be used to increase funding for public health. For one, there hasn't been a single public campaign to combat obesity that has been successful. And, in all countries in the world, obesity is increasing (just at different rates). It's so difficult to judge how today's policies will affect society in the future but that's why Jamie is interested in using the epidemiologic studies to increase the necessary funding for disease prevention, which will improve the quality of life now and decrease the costs in the future.


Catching up with Vicki, both Jamie and I were extremely moved by her updates on her work in the community. Vicki is the most dedicated Rotarian I know, to a wide range of causes... promoting peace with young people, the Ambassadorial Scholarship, Youth Exchanges, mentorships, and peace within the community. Lately she's become extremely involved as a mentor for a troubled teen. I won't get into the details, but Vicki has gone way beyond the call of duty as a support-system, teacher, mentor, and friend for this young man. I think in some way, Vicki has become a mentor for all of the Ambassadorial Scholars and she is truly passionate and dedicated to what she believes in.