La Feria en Jaen

Yesterday we experienced the fair in Jaen!  This is a big event here in our area and people look forward to the fair each year.  We were told by several friends we had to go, so yesterday David and I met several of our friends in Jaen to enjoy the 9 day fair before it ended.  The streets around the fair were decorated with beautiful lights. Walking into the fair there were tons of shops with items such as scarves, purses, jewelry, shoes, and candy for sale.  Once inside, they have the typical rides and food stands.  The rides were similar to ones in the states, but seemed less safe.  For example, one ride was a big boat that swung back and forth pretty fast and high and the people riding were packed into a cage with no seat belts or any protection.  Just had to hold onto the bars around them.

                                             Kids would get up and stand in the middle of this ride as it was going

                                                  The cool lights! People were everywhere!

We ate some really good fair food .  We had a patate asada, which is a potato with cheese, corn, radish, ham, tuna, olives, and some other sauces.  We also had to sample the sweets!  A waffle with melted chocolate and whip cream!!!  Delicious!

                                                  Enjoying the fair

A couple of differences that we noticed were that the fair stays open all night. Rides, food stands, and shops stay open into the wee hours of the morning.  The fair also has huge tents dedicated to dancing.  These tents were so loud and were right next to each other so you would be hearing many different songs playing at once all full blast. It was difficult to talk!  Another thing is that people are able to bring in their own food and drinks to the fair.  This is great, but people would just leave things on the ground when they were done so there were piles of trash everywhere!

                                                           One of many piles of trash left on the ground

We had a great time. Really enjoyed seeing some of the other auxiliaries from the states, from Germany, and from Ireland!