Feria in El Puerto de Santa Maria

Yesterday I shared with you photos and commentary from a recent trip to the feria in Rota. Today I'll share photos from a feria in another small town near the base... El Puerto de Santa María.

I actually went to the feria with girlfriends from my Spanish class. We went after class and only stayed a couple of hours, but had a great time. Here are the highlights...

The entrance to the feria was similar to Rota's.

Tinto verano, anyone? Some of our friends arrived ahead of us and were waiting with pitchers of drinks.


My Spanish teacher is pictured on the left, and the other two ladies are friends and fellow Spanish students from the base.


We hung out in this caseta, enjoying some Spanish cuisine and conversation. Thursday was "el Día de las Mujeres" (Ladies' Day) at the feria, therefore we saw lots more women than men.


The lady in green is another Spanish teacher at our school. She's helping one of her students, a neighbor and friend of mine, learn some dance moves. Don't you love their feria dresses?


I loved watching this precious older couple dance together!


These ladies weren't part of our group, but I had a good time watching them dance together and I thought their dresses were lovely.


I'm such a people watcher and this lady held my interest during her smoke break, as she managed to use her cleavage as a holder for her cigarettes. That's all I have to say about that.


Some of the ladies in our group were participants in the sevillana dancing, while others were merely spectators (That would be me since I have two left feet).


As we were leaving, we saw horse-drawn carriages carrying people. Even the horses are dressed for feria!


Did I mention Thursday was Ladies' Day? There were women of every kind there... young, old, Spanish, American, nuns, ladies in wheelchairs... you name it!

Maybe next year I'll learn to dance and buy myself a feria dress. Yeah, and maybe I'll win the lottery too! We'll see...

Rota Feria

Feria season in Spain is quite a cultural event. Everywhere in Spain, from the tiniest of villages to the largest of cities, devotes at least a couple of days a year to their festivals. We just think the Spanish like to party, which is okay with us.

So... what is feria anyway?

Feria is basically like any county fair or "carni" I've ever attended in that one can find...

1) food galore, and none of it healthy (some foods, like churros and cotton candy, are familiar, but other foods, like coconut slices, are completely foreign to me)

2) music (flamenco being quite different than bluegrass and country, but WAY LOUD nonetheless),

3) dancing (except here they flamenco dance and where I come from they square dance),

4) fancy dresses (here ladies wear feria dresses, and in my neck of the woods ladies wear special square dancing garbs, but they're somewhat similar),

5) rides (pretty much the same as the ones back home),

6) drinks (except here they don't hide their alcohol... they flaunt it),

7) animals (except here it's usually just horses rather than the whole barnyard),

8) carnival games (the same kinds of games with the same kinds of tacky prizes),

9) foul smells (Here it's because of the horses, alcohol and perhaps a little B.O. thrown in here and there. Back home it can be blamed on all of the animals, the alcohol already on the Bubba's breath when he bought his ticket at the fair entrance and of course Bubba's lack of personal hygiene),

10) girls dressed like hookers and other interesting characters,

11) lots of trash, and...

12) loads of fun!

How about a peek at some of the sights we recently saw while visiting the Rota feria?

I don't believe I've ever seen these foods served at my local county fair at home in KY. I'm a little more accustomed to corn dogs, popcorn or funnel cakes.


The boys enjoyed the shooting gallery, despite the fact they didn't win a prize.


See what you can win at the carnival games? Priceless treasures, I tell ya... just like at home! I really wanted one of these Playboy bunnies, but I couldn't get the hubby to go try and win one for me.


The boys had a blast riding the bumper cars.


Here the boys get ready for this ride to start. Notice they aren't strapped in or anything. Apparently there are virtually no enforced safety standards for these carni rides. Were we crazy for allowing them to ride this thing? You'll be relieved to know, as were we, that the ride ended without incident.


These young ladies were beautiful in their feria dresses.


Even the little people dress up for feria.


Here's a chica dressed in "non-feria" costume.


This guy was entertaining. He stood just like a statue for the longest time and then he'd barely move. I'm more accustomed to other carni folk such as clowns, mimes and weight-challenged women (the new PC term for "fat ladies").


People gather in these pre-fab buildings/tents called "casetas" for dancing, singing, drinking... you get the picture. There are both private and public casetas.



These two had a great time. It's so nice to see them comfortable in their surroundings, particularly off-base among the Spanish. They no longer seem overwhelmed and anxious.


This good-looking guy was my carni date. Pretty cute, isn't he? He speaks a little Spanish too, which is always a bonus when out and about in Spain.


As it turned dark, the lights came on and it was really pretty. I don't ever recall seeing these kinds of lights at the fair back home.

We didn't go to the feria in Jerez or Sevilla where I understand they have big horse shows. Maybe next year...

Of course I kept wondering where the tractor pull was held. Sadly enough, there wasn't one. Can you believe that? The Spanish don't know what they're missing! Now that's some entertainment! Who do I call to make a suggestion for next year's feria?

Where's my willpower?

Dinner is a challenge for me when the hubby is out of town. The boys and I have a tendency to eat less healthy when he's away. I realize that's not a positive thing, but it's reality.

Case in point... last night I was busy preparing food for an event I'm co-hosting today. The boys were happy with a can of soup and spaghettios. I did actually slice some fresh fruit and poured each of them a tall glass of milk, so dinner wasn't totally without nutrition.

I've been trying to find a way to jumpstart my motivation to lose weight and begin an exercise regimen. Let's just say I've been ignoring this issue for quite some time and it doesn't seem to be going away on its own. I hate it when that happens!

Last night I decided to have a Weight Watchers meal, which was pretty tasty. I also had a banana. I was feeling very proud of myself in regard to my food choices. Then somehow during the course of the evening, I found myself munching on a Snickers ice cream bar.

If you see my willpower running around anywhere, send it back to me, will ya?

'Tis the season...

... for Father's Day gift buying, hubby's birthday gift buying, graduation gift buying, kids birthday party gift buying, congrats on change of command card making, and change of address for 147 military people on my Christmas card list as everyone PCS's this summer. (Okay, so it's not really 147 people, but there will be lots of address changes to be made.)

The hubby travels a lot this summer... without us... and the oldest kid goes to Boy Scout camp in another country... without us...

and I love summer vacation because...?

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was so low-key and relaxing, and we enjoyed every minute. The boys had school on Friday, but my hubby had a free day. Lately I've been volunteering in my youngest son's class on Friday mornings, and I asked my hubby to join me as a surprise for the little man. M was so thrilled to see both of us (particularly his dad) in his classroom. Later we strolled around downtown Rota and ate lunch at a cafe/bar kind of place where the food was fabulous.

Saturday the boys were supposed to have had baseball games, however, since many families were on weekend trips, the games were cancelled, but both teams had a practice of sorts. Later we joined the crowd at the opening of the base pool. It was a warm day, but the water was frigid and my hubby and I let it be known upfront that we were NOT going to be taking a dip. We watched the boys swim and play, but we didn't get in. Of course it was quite the social event as everybody knows everybody here in Mayberry.

Sunday we went to church and then packed some food for a short road trip to Cape Trafalgar, Spain, a little over an hour away from Rota. We'd read about this historic location and figured we'd go check it out. What we found were beautiful beaches, a lighthouse and lots of livestock. We also learned a few historical facts about the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805).

FYI from Wikipedia.... "a sea battle was fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition (August-December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). The battle was the most decisive British victory of the war and was a pivotal naval battle of the 19th century. Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Pierre Villeneuve off the south-west coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost."

There you have it... your history lesson for the day. Now, moving on to the sights we saw while visiting this beautiful area... Take a look at the brilliant blue colors in the sky and water! What a beautiful day!


I don't know about you, but I had never seen cattle grazing near the beach before this day.


I must have invaded this critter's privacy as it did a 180 on me the minute I zoomed in for a photo.


If you know me very well at all, you know I love lighthouses, so I was thrilled to see this one.


We asked someone to take a photo of us standing on the walkway surrounding the lighthouse, overlooking the water, and he happily obliged. We don't seem to have many photos of all four of us, so we took advantage of the opportunity.


Pretty wildflowers were scattered here and there over the dunes.


The boys initially weren't very excited about our excursion as I think they would have preferred to stay at home and play Wii, however, once we got there and they saw the sand dunes and the water, they changed their tune. They explored for two solid hours and had a blast.


We took our tri-pod with us, but naturally we left it in the trunk and were too lazy to walk back to get it, however, we managed to sit the camera on a rock in order to get this family photo. Wow! Two family photos in the same day... that must be some kind of record for us.


I couldn't resist another photo of the lighthouse. Actually, I took like 10 more, but I won't force you to see them all.


Yeah, I'm thinking I could get used to sights like this...


... or this...


... or this...


... and maybe this...


M loved playing in the sand and surf, although the water was C-O-L-D!


D in his usual "thumbs up" pose.


Partners in crime


We thought this was an interesting form of recycling at the beach.


The boys climbed this sand dune, and then attempted to slide down, which didn't exactly work out. They wished they'd had a sled or one of those round discs to ride, but who knew this would have been a possibility at the beach?


Time for a refresco (soft drink) and M chose his favorite... Fanta Naranja (Fanta Orange). Of course the bottle makes for great entertainment too.


Ditto to all of the above!


Here's MY partner in crime! He was responsible for planning our little excursion. Good choice, babe! You can plan all of our trips.

The rest of our weekend included the hubby playing a rare round of golf with a friend, movie rentals and a BBQ with lots of neighbors. What an awesome weekend!

Exercising restraint

Today I went to the commissary, and as I was placing my items on the conveyor belt to be scanned and bagged, an employee approached me and asked if I wanted a whole case of Snickers candy bars for only $1.80. I must have given her quite a confused look because she repeated the amount. Evidently they have ordered Snickers in excess and are trying to get rid of them.

I thought about it for only a second before declining the offer. Mind you, I LOVE Snickers! But then I thought about having an entire case of them in my house and could envision eating them, one after another, until I was sick, and... I. JUST. SAID. NO!

I paid for my groceries and got the heck out of there before I changed my mind. Right now I'm feeling rather proud of myself for exercising such restraint, but tomorrow, when I'm craving something chocolate and sinful, I'll be kicking myself for passing up such an awesome deal.

The Flip Side

Upon re-reading my previous post, I felt a twinge of guilt over having pointed out all of the out of character, frustrating behavior my oldest son has recently displayed. I've decided to take a look at the flip side and concentrate on the creative, positive things my 6th grader has involved himself with lately...

As you already know, the big man is playing baseball. He really wanted to play spring soccer, but because our base community is incredibly small, there simply aren't enough kids to be able to offer two spring sports. He chose to sit out last season (in Virginia) as he didn't particularly enjoy the season prior. We think it was because he was asked to pitch, and pitching makes him extremely nervous as he feels added pressure. He actually has pretty good form, especially considering he's not very experienced.

During Wednesday night's game, the coaches were trying to decide who should pitch. My husband leaned toward me and whispered, "I wish the coach would just ask D to pitch," knowing that D wouldn't step up unless asked, and that's exactly what happened.

D not only pitched, but he pitched well. Mind you, this is a kid who hadn't pitched in two years. He had a few wild pitches, but overall, he did an excellent job, striking out several players from the opposing team. We found this very interesting, especially since D has "Poland Syndrome." Unfamiliar? So were we when he was first diagnosed. He's basically missing the major pectoral muscle in the chest/arm region.

So the fact that D can throw the ball across the plate at all is pretty amazing. The older he gets, the more challenging pitching will become because he'll probably never be able to throw any "heat," but we're really proud of him for his willingness to step up and help out his team when asked. And he was pretty psyched about his performance on the field, which was so encouraging for him.

D recently participated in the 6th grade talent show, performing in three different acts. He "beat boxed" while a friend danced, he and another friend changed the words and then sang the theme song from "Iron Man" and lastly, he performed a mime act, which was actually quite entertaining. In fact, there were kids mimicking his act for the remainder of the afternoon and for days following the show. One of D's teachers said he was a natural performer. I guess we have the kids' choir director at our former church to thank as she helped D get over stage fright and inspired him to use his talents. The picture quality isn't the best in the following video, but you can get the gist of D's act...




D has always enjoyed expressing himself through detailed drawings, creative writing and designing his own comics. One of his teachers hung several of his drawings on the wall in the classroom. His teachers have given us very positive feedback and have told us he has a wonderful imagination and shows a great deal of talent. What parent doesn't want to hear these kinds of comments?

D also plays the trumpet in beginning band. Last night the elementary and middle school band performed for the first time and they did a nice job. Here's D blowing his horn...

D is quite popular with the kids next door. MJ and J love playing with D because he chases and "scares" them. Like I've said before, these two ring my doorbell multiple times a day wanting to know if D and his brother can come play with them. I've shown you photos of MJ and J before, but here's one of them with D...

Yeah, I suppose I'm shamelessly bragging on my kid, but sometimes I need to take a step back and look at the whole kid, and remind myself of what a terrific person D really is. I'll always be proud to be his mom.