Feria's one wild ride, man

Woke up the next day around 11 with a nifty little resaca (hangover). I stumbled into the kitchen to make some toast and was soon joined by Maria del Mar who had the biggest bags under her eyes. We were resaca buddies! Check out our Feria souvenirs! Good times. We talked about our nights and how we both had a little too much fun. She apologized for missing my calls--she had left her phone at home! Silly Maria del Mar. After eating I lied down on the couch and watched TV and drank water. I just didn't want to do anything else. I watched an episode of "7th Heaven" in Spanish which is always a good time. I forgot how much I (guiltily) enjoy that show. I then started feeling pretty useless and tired so I just went back to bed until 2. Oh me. I woke up in time for lunch which was fucking delicious. Maruja had obtained a recipe from Maria del Mar's mother, and this was some good shit. It was bacalao, potato, grilled onion, tomato, and a bit of cream. UNREAL. Seriously. Amazing. Words cannot even describe. Maria del Mar didn't eat with us because she was busy getting ready for another day of Feria, so Maruja and I literally inhaled the dish. Well, Maria del Mar tasted a bit of it to confirm that it tasted like her mother's. It did. Maruja was pleased. After lunch I went back to my room and Maria del Mar came in frantically asking me to help her hook and tie her dress. This time she wore the same dress, but with a coral rose and matching shawl. You know, these women usually own one flamenco dress and they wear them everyday of Feria. I was wearing a tank top and skirt and not only got sweaty as hell, but full of mud, horse pee and poo. Ew. And these women are wearing long skirts and sleeves so the fact that they aren't sweating and full of horse shit just blows my mind. Anyways, I felt that that was my cue to maybe put some real clothes on (yes, I was still in my pajamas). I wasn't sure what my plan was for the day, but I figured that I may as well get dressed. Not before taking some more pics of Maria del Mar outside in her new color combo. We also stood out on the balcony together watching all of the decked out families and friends migrating to Feria. We commented on all of the dresses and colors. It was really fun. Soon she left and I finished getting dressed. I got a text from Melissa asking about meeting up at Feria. We planned to meet at the same place as the day before at around 4:30. I wore my brown ruffly skirt again (despite its muckiness), the same copper mary janes, and my flamenco dancer souvenir t-shirt that I bought the previous week. Oh yes, and the rose. I took pictures. Good times. I then met up with Jessica and Melissa near the Puerta Principal. Before entering I stopped at one of the infamously large specialty Feria kiosks and bought turron. Turron is kind of like almond bark or a harder fudge that is typical of Spain and a very popular treat during Feria. I decided that I may as well give it a go. So I bought and almond turron with honey and cream. It was very hard and difficult to bite into, but quite tastey. We then entered and decided that we should hit up the carnival area. We first stopped at a public caseta for some washroom action. Oh man, and to cool down. It was another scorcher. Feria week was kind of strange: it was muggy and cloudy and humid until about 3:30pm everyday when the sun would come out in full force. Crazy. We then walked across the entire Feria grounds to the carnival area which was brimming with children, pre-teen, and teenage "Canis". Canis are what they call the "hard core" ghetto-like wannabe kids. They all wear brightly colored pants and wear a lot of hair gel (both boys and girls) and wear shirts that are a bit too short and a bit too tight and act really tough. They also ride around on motos and rob people for kicks. They also typically don't go to school, or else just ditch it all the time. Good times. Well, they all hang out at the Feria. They're actually quite harmless and pretty entertaining. There were so many rides in the carnival...I had heard on the news that there were 55 rides. Yeah, no kidding. This had the appearance of any American carnival such as Highwood Days, but the rides here were a bit nicer and looked a hellofa lot safer. There were some water rides, some rollercoasters, many spinny rides, pirate ship swings, you name it. Rides were 3euro each so we decided to pick and choose. Our first choice was a ride literally called "Tecno Dance" (oh Spain) which spins you around in cars and bobs the cars up and down. It looked very unique and really fun. We were in line for awhile because this ride lasted awhile...you really get your 3 euro worth. During the second ride we waited through we timed it and it came out to be 7 minutes long! Niiiice. We finally got on. Jessica and I shared a car and Melissa sat with a ten-year-old kid. This ride, my friends, I cannot even begin to describe. My stomach has never experienced so many negative G's and therefore not flip-flopped more in my life. I mean, ya know that feeling you get in your stomach when you go over a drop on a rollercoaster? Imagine that happening repeatedly for 7 minutes straight. The ride would frequently stop and then start right back up again doing a different, intricate pattern, switching directions, speeding up, etc. So unpredictable. We were screaming and laughing the whole time...not because it was scary, but because it was intense. I can't even describe this experience. When we got off we were speechless. It was an experience. The most intense 7 minutes of my life. Crazy. It took a lot out of me! Therefore, Jessica was spent and decided to sit the next ride out. I kind of don't blame her. The weirdest part was that Melissa said that the kid sitting next to her did not make a sound. She told me that it was so awkward because she was screaming and he was silent. In fact, I noticed that there were no screams coming from any of the rides. How can one NOT scream on a ride? Especially these??? The Spanish really do baffle me sometimes. Melissa and I decided to do another, however, and chose what looked like a tilt-a-whirl (like the one from the movie Problem Child 2) but the cars freely flip upside down when the ride gains speed. I swear, during this ride I thought that I was going to die. It was so scary. Again, I can't describe it. We screamed our lungs out. Nobody else did. I bet you could hear us all over the carnival because we were the only ones screaming. Way to be loud Americans...? I don't even know. I don't get the Spanish sometimes. But yeah, we were kind of happy when it was over, although we did have fun. We had definitely had our fill and we were good to go. It was around 7 and we had plans to meet up with Ryan and Stacey in Plaza de Cuba at 8:30 that night to go to dinner, so we went our separate ways. I stumbled home because my feet were killing me from my shoes. It's crazy because I never wear heels, and these shoes have the tiniest little platform, and of course they kill my feet. I'd make a terrible prostitute. Or trophy wife. Either or. On the walk home a drunken horse back riding man grabbed Jessica's arm and asked her to come ride on his horse. This is a very normal Feria practice, actually. The riders invite the prettiest girls on their horses to ride around Feria like royalty. It's kind of cute. But Jessica was not having it. She said no thanks, but this guy just wouldn't listen. He kept trying to convince her and she kept saying no, but before we knew it he was lifting her up. She was not really wanting to go so he was really struggling to get her all the way up there. It was pretty funny, I must say. She was on the horse, sitting awkwardly and nervously just waiting to come down. We were all nervous that he was just going to take off and we wouldn't see Jessica for a good two hours. Just riding around Feria with the drunk man. But after about five minutes he noticed her discomfort and asked if she would like to come down. She said yes, please, and he helped her scooch down as her skirt got caught on the saddle and flew up in the back subsequently causing her to flash her ass to Feria. Haha, oh wow. Just one of those random Spanish moments that you just gotta shrug and smile to. This country gets me more and more each day. What an experience. Jessica was pretty shaken up by the whole ordeal, but it was pretty funny in restrospect. I soon got home really sweaty and gross so I immediately changed into normal clothes which was sad because I enjoy my flamenco-esque gear. Oh well, one must make sacrifices in the name of cleanliness. I then walked down and met up with everyone. We walked over to the cheap Thai/Chinese restaurant in los Remedios. Yay! First we made a quick OpenCor trip so Stacey could buy some liquor to pre-game. Mostly influenced by Ryan. I like the way his mind works. We then got to the restaurant. I got spring rolls (they were okay) and some Thai fried rice which was quite good, and huuuuuuge. I could not come close to finishing it. We had a good time chatting it up, getting to know Ryan. He's a really good guy. I approve. But really, they are a great couple because they are just best friends, ya know? They've been dating since their sophomore year of high school! That's insanity! But they just know each other backwards and forwards and are so healthy and so great together. They really fit. Like I said, they are just best friends. It's really refreshing to see young couples like that. After a very satisfying dinner. We then walked back towards Stacey's and my apartment so Stacey could put some things away and I could grab some shoes with toes (I was wearing flip-flops--bad idea for Feria that night, think horse shit), so Ryan, Melissa, and Jessica hung out outside and started to botellon while Stacey and I took an impromptu piso trip. We soon got back down and hung out outside of our place and just drank and chatted. At around 11 we walked to Feria. Ryan hadn't seen the Esmeralda caseta and really wanted to check it out. We talked to Courtney and told her that she and Scott should meet us there. When we got there we still had a lot of liquor to drink, and Esmeralda was not performing, so we just had some more botellon right in the middle of Feria. It was a great time. After about a half an hour Esmeralda and her clan came to the stage to perform, this time decked out in different dresses than last time. There weren't any seats so we stood for awhile. Once the show ended I had to pee really bad and ended up getting stuck in a 20-minute bathroom line. Luckily everyone was drunk and really funny and silly and entertaining so it all wasn't so bad. Once I returned the caseta had cleared out a bit and everyone had grabbed a table. Courtney and Scott were there, and they had brought their parents along! Goooood times. We all ordered beers, the Barkers got a jarra de rebujito, and then the show started. Courtney's dad, your guy's guy man from Clarkston, MI was acting very uncomfortable about the whole drag show thing. He refused to watch it, as if watching it would mean something or that he was condoning something. Courtney later told me that he kept asking if they could leave. At first it bothered me, but then I started finding it quite comical. Especially since Courtney's family was aware of his discomfort and ignored it. What better way to open people's eyes up than to throw it in their face? Take that, middle American mentality, mwa ha ha! The parents ended up leaving around 1:30ish and we didn't head out until 2:45. We would have stuck around longer but we wanted to hit up TexMex before it closed at 4. On our way to TexMex we passed an outdoor bar with a bunch of drunk businessmen stumbling outside of it. Somehow we struck up conversation with them and ended up being silly and messing around with them. They were so funny and so entertaining! We kind of didn't want to leave them because we were having so much fun (we all took a shot together), but we had to get to TexMex. It was our mission. So, sadly, we bid our new Spanish middle-aged friends farewell. Then we ran into Marlena from Cornell at a kiosk. We stopped and chatted but unfortunately had to cut it short due to our mission. But it was great to see her! We got to TexMex at ten to 4, just making it. We grabbed a seat and check out the menu. I just got some rice and beans because I'm not a big late night eater, drunk or no drunk. The water felt great, though, although I really wasn't that drunk. We then left around 5. There was a creepy bum on the street pestering people, so I had everyone walk me halfway home to where normal-looking people were. I then got home, got ready for bed, and then went to sleep. Another amazingly successful Feria day/night. I LOVE IT!!!!!