Casey's Semester Abroad in Europe: First Adventures of Seville, Spain

From the moment I got to Sevilla (As the Spaniards say it) I was pretty much in love with it. The weather, people and atmosphere was completely overwhelming. We arrived pretty late at night so it was hard to see where exactly we were when driving to our campus. We are staying in a hostel since St John's doesn't have an official campus in Spain. It sounds like it would be a crappy living situation but it actually is very nice. Emily and I are roommates yet again. We have the largest room :). All rooms have private bathrooms, un-bunked beds, and a private balcony. Its pretty much like a hotel I cant complain. One thing I didn't like off the bat was the location of our residence. It is about a 25 minute walk from the city center. There is one main road we live by that has a lot of convenience stores but nothing like city center. We often walk or rent bikes to go into town. There is a beautiful park close to us, Maria Luisa Park which has Plaza de Espana inside.

On our first day of classes the girls decided to go for a walk tot the Park. We rowed boats in Plaza de Espana and had a great time! The park is huge and you can always find people hanging out with friends, taking pictures and running there. Spanish people love being outside and staying active. The weather upon arrival was pretty decent. Low 60's to high 50's. It was rainy the first few days but oh how that has changed in just one week. This week in Spain in drastically hotter. It was been in the 80's! Usually that's not too hot but since I haven't been in warm weather for awhile my body isn't used to it.

I really couldn't have been any luckier with my timing in each country. I hit the jackpot with Spain! Our first week here was a huge Easter celebration. Although we weren't here for Easter we did see a few days of the week-long celebration. They have this celebration called Semana Santa or Holy Week. People coem in masses to the city center and celebrate with traditional music, dance, parades and costume. The traditional costume is very shocking to the eyes of Americans because it looks like the KKK. They wear tall point hats and big cloaks. It is very odd for us to see but very traditional and religious for them.
This week in Sevilla is especially cool because it is La Feria de Abril. La Feria is a similar to a county fair. In the olden days it was a livestock fair but now it is all about drinking and dancing. Women dress up in traditional Flamenco dresses and the men wear sports coats, button downs and slacks. It is really a sight to see.It is hard to describe the enormity of the festival. People flock in thousands to La Feria. They all party in Casettas which are like little houses or tents. Families or companies own these casettas. People eat and dance all week long in them. There are also public ones that anyone can go to to dance and grab drinks. They also have a carnival at La Feria with games and rides to go on. It is a really fun atmosphere and such a huge deal to the people of Sevilla. It has been a special treat to witness La Feria in Sevilla.