Meet Isis Madrid. She’s our digital content editor. Isis moved to San Antonio from Boston, Mass., last summer, which means she’s never before experienced the cultural behemoth known as Fiesta. She needs advice, lots of it. Because she both lives and works downtown, Isis can’t really run or hide from the 10-day explosion of parades, carnivals, concerts, and parties. Since Current staffers can get a little jaded when it comes to Fiesta (e.g. “leave town,” and “wear flippers to wade through the river of beer and filth”), we asked you, dear, Fiesta-loving readers, to help us help Isis. Here’s your top advice.
Do
Wear a sombrero
Eat food that’s served on a stick or tortilla only
Bust out the guayaberas and Mexican dresses
Collect some medals (and learn about their history at the Institute of Texan Cultures’ exhibit “Fiesta Medal Mania,” through July 8)
Make friends with private party hosts, especially for King William Fair and NIOSA
Pack some type of antibacterial soap product; Fiesta’s all fun and games until somebody gets sick…
Carry cash over credit cards
Scream “show us your shoes!” at float-riding royalty during parades
Choose comfy, closed-toe shoes (that beer and filth thing is real!)
Don't
Show more skin than you can slather sunscreen on
Get mad if you get hit with a cascarón (derived from a Medieval Italian courting ritual), get even
Let the smell scare you
Forget to drink water
Carry a purse, or a backpack, or a bike, or anything that could possibly get stolen
Forget an insulated bottle for, um, water…
Stake out a spot too far from the port-o-potties
Drive. Just don’t, for so many reasons, parking and DWIs being two very convincing ones
Venture out in flip-flops, high heels, or any shoes that couldn’t survive a good dousing of booze and/or bodily fluids
