Otoño

Autumn has finally arrived in Sevilla! We don’t see any leaves changing colors and we haven’t participated in any football tailgatin’, but there’s finally a briskness in the air. In Sevilla, you know it’s Fall when the cafes stop serving Tinto de Verano (“Summer Red”: red wine and tonic, on ice) and gazpacho (tomatoes are no longer in season.)

Fall is my favorite season. My favorite spot in the world to enjoy Fall is the Great Smokey Mountains – por supuesto! However, I’m really enjoying the cloudless blue skies and fresh air in Sevilla this year. And, in Spain we won’t have to miss out on that special fall holiday: Halloween. Halloween is to Spain as Cinco de Mayo is to the U.S.: a reason for people to go out drinking without knowing anything about the history of the day they’re celebrating. What’s wrong with that?

Kids don’t trick or treat here, but teenagers dress up and party. Brad and I decided to buy tickets for a party organized by my language program; it was advertised as a “Terrorifico” Halloween party on a boat. The party began around midnight and went until dawn. Brad and I didn’t last until dawn; we left the fiesta when the boat docked around 4 a.m.

One of my most restrained Halloween costumes to date, but I look creepy nonetheless, don’t you think? And, I’m rockin my new chic haircut!

Detail of the stockings

At the party, we chatted with some other students from my language program, and there were hundreds of real Spaniards there too. The DJ was great and many people were costumed and really enjoying themselves. I found myself yelling, “DONDE VIVES EN SEVILLA?” and other elementary sentences in Spanish, all night. At one point, I got the chance to ask a Swiss guy why Swiss guys are so tall. He said it was all the calcium in the chocolate they eat. Two German girls from my class were at the party and they had carved little pumpkins and brought them! One of them also had a “life”-sized skeleton balloon as her date. They are hillarious.

November 1 is Todos los Santos (All Saints Day) in Spain, another national holiday when everything is closed. Brad and I celebrated Todos los Santos by enjoying a homemade lunch at a friend’s apartment in Triana. And, we went to Isla Magica with my fun German girlfriends. At the Halloween party, they invited us to join them at Isla Magica, a theme park across the river from our neighborhood, and we jumped at the chance.

Isla Magica supposedly chronicals Spain’s conquests in the New World – through rides like roller coasters and carousels. For example, on one ride called “El Cyclón,” there’s a big Aztec head sculpture in the middle of the ride. Learning about Spanish history at an amusement park? I can get into that!

Isla Magica

Our afternoon there was especially great because it was an absolutely perfect Fall day, and my friends, Stephi and Christina are such fun. They are living in Sevilla for the year as au pairs for a Swiss family. And, they’re both certified nurses, so they’re really sweet just like all the nurses I know. After Isla Magica, we went out for some yummy tapas before they had to go home. We laughed all afternoon and evening with them.

I plan to continue enjoying Fall by spending many hours outdoors. And we’ll get to celebrate the bounty of the harvest, a.k.a. Thanksgiving, with Mom and Dad. As for what I’m missing in the U.S., John keeps me posted on college football news and I hope the rest of y’all will enjoy the fall colors for me.