Viva La Feria

Feria, the big famous one being in Sevilla that I went to, takes place in different towns in Andalucía at different times in the Spring (except for Malaga's feria which is in August). How does a store that is devoted to one holiday/time of year stay open? Do they make enough money during this time of year that they can afford to stay open all year long?? Do people buy clothes and accessories for feria in the off season? Is this store actually not open all year, but just opened recently and that's why I noticed it?? I need to know how this works.

REBAJAS

The word "rebaja" can be translated into English as "reduction" or "discount," but right now in Spain the word "rebajas" does not refer to just any old sale. The "rebajas" refer to the unbelievable New Year sales in practically every store in Spain the whole month of January. Discounts range from 30% to 70% at some stores. People pretty much go crazy, wiping out the shelves of clothing, makeup, and appliance shops in a frantic attempt to get the best deal. Think of it like "Black Friday" except for a month long...Question though...how is it that Spaniards have so much extra spending money after Christmas? You'd think, especially in this economy, they would be completely wiped out in January. There are just some things about Spain that do not logically make sense...I have yet to dabble in the "rebajas," but will definitely give it a go this weekend and hope not to be trampled by a pack of feisty señoritas.

Lost in translation

I was walking around Corte Ingles the other day when I came across this t-shirt. I'm sorry but SERIOUSLY? I cannot believe in this day and age a company cannot hire or consult a bilingual person when designing graphic t-shirts. Also, even if this was gramatically correct what are they trying to say to begin with: "I'm such a golden girl?" or "Girl, I'm gold" or "I'm so golden" ?!?!?! Something has been very lost in translation..."I'm such gold girl company", can you please hire me to do translation work? It will put an end to your ignorance and embarrassment and I could really use the extra dinero.

GRACIAS.

To go along with this theme, I remember in middle school the Abercrombie graphic Ts with Chinese writing were all the rage, not that any of us spoke or understood Chinese. I definitely had one or two and bought them because I thought the writing looked cool. For all I knew it could have said something really perverted or innappropriate, but I along with my friends still bought them and wore them with pleasure. Emily took the picture on the left while she was in Cambodia working in an orphanage. When Emily asked him why he bought this t-shirt, he said it was because he likes the color green. My first thought was my middle school Abercrombie t-shirts and how I could have been innocently walking around at age 12 with something easily just as embarrassing. Well at least it makes sense grammatically...

White Pants

Memorial Day Weekend is by far one of my favorite weekends of the year for many reasons.
a. I generally celebrate it with Alice and her family in Shelter Island
b. It marks the beginning of the summer
c. It marks the beginning of when I can wear white pants.

We are all familiar with the rule: don't wear white after labor day (or before memorial day). I am not sure where this rule came from but I can only assume that it is to ensure that people only wear summer fashions during the summer months (I can see how wearing white open-toed shoes in January might be unwise). My new favorite thing about Spain is the ability to wear white pants all year round. Due to the lack of these holidays along with the amazing weather this rule does not exist in Spain. Above I am sporting my white pants in the end of October (total fashion faux pas in the US).