La Feria

I'm going to take a radically different approach in telling you all about the day spent in Jaen, starting with exploring the city and ending with the Feria de San Lucas.

I got on the Erasmus bus at noon with Juan, Justine, and her friend Nolwenn, another French Erasmus chick, after a difficult night including only 3 shaky hours of sleep. Felt like a wreck.

Me on the bus ride. Some of my hair has migrated.

We got to Jaén and decided to ditch the Erasmus group, as exploring a city with 80-ish people is far from ideal. The city was lovely, packed with fairgoers, and all throughout were mini-performances.

Flamenco costumes were not limited to that adorable pair of children, and women in the traditional dresses were everywhere. With the atmosphere, the beautiful city, and a little caffeine, it didn’t take long for my frown to turn upside down.

We wandered upwards and got treated to this view:

 

After some exploring, we went back to the cathedral to meet up with the group for the 40-minute trek up to the Castilla de Santa Catalina. My tiredness started to catch up with me, but I got a little more caffeinated and waited it out.

At the top, we did some mountain modeling and watched the sunset.

Although beautiful, it was freezing at the top with the windchill, and as my clothing choice evidences, I haven't quite gotten it into my head that it isn't summer anymore. I wasn't too bummed when we started our trek down to the fair. On the way down, I started talking to this guy...from Iraq!

 

I had so many questions for him. We ended up having an awesome conversation. He's from Baghdad and is working on his Master's in engineering (forget which type) at UGR. We then got to the fair, which was huge, colorful, and packed with people.

 I was really fond of the Cala lily light archways.

It was split up into different branches with categories such as food, bar/discoteca tents, flamenco tents, and games and rides.

Spain is funny about its religious celebrations. They range from traditional to an excuse for a no-holds-barred, massive party.

Juan and I got wrapped up in our conversation and ended up separated from Nolwenn and Justine. For us, the first order of business was food. We sat down at this food tent and spent a while pondering which overpriced fair food seemed like the best deal. We'd almost settled on a hamburger and migas, a typical dish in Murcia and the plate in the bottom left of the picture below. Last minute, when the waiter comes over, we decide, screw that, we're getting something more authentic, so Juan asks the waiter if they have pescadito frito variado (mixed fried fish) for two people. Of course, the waiter says, and goes off. We look at the menu again and realize that the dish is 30 friggin' euros. So I wanted to smack Juan in the face, but it was pretty funny and the food was delicious, so I sort of forgave him.

 Mean muggin'

 We met back up with Nolwenn and Justine, then headed to the rides. Juan explained this ride as an integral part of his childhood: you go in circles on the train and a clown smacks you on the head with a broom, and if you manage to steal the broom from him, you get to keep it and can ride a bunch of events free.

 

 Whatever works, Spain.

This one was a little different: the clown gave out balloons and little toys throughout, and Juan failed at stealing the broom. Yet due to his enthusiastic effort, the clown gave it to him at the end. Unfortunately, the free ride rule seemed to no longer apply. My Hello Kitty balloon thing had a disconcerting warning at the bottom, advising "Washing hands after play." Wow, thanks for the lead poisoning, China.

 We gave away the balloons to some very happy children, who might get lead poisoning.

 The next stop was the discoteca section. As we waded through the trash and broken glass built up from a week's worth of partying, I was grateful for my leather boots. The scene, although lots of fun for a mature, responsible woman of 20 whole entire years such as myself, made me appreciate that teenage partying, although far from limited in the States, is not quite this sanctioned.

 

This 80s band from Murcia was playing in one of the tents. I wasn't too into them, but just another example of what was up.

 

When Juan and I bought mojitos, we got free hats. A little loosened up, we wore the ridiculous straw creations with absolutely no shame. At one point, a guy asked me if he could borrow it to take a picture. Of course, I needed one with him too.

 

Humor>how bad I look here.

The four of us spent the rest of the night dancing at various tent-discos and passing around the hats.

That is, until around 2, when the exhaustion started kicking in once more. Juan went to hang out with another friend, and the two girls and I went and sat at a table for the last hour and a half until the bus took us back to Granada.

On the walk home from the bus station, for the first time this year, I saw my breath condense in the early morning Autumn air.

It was so cold I grew even more facial hair.