I stayed at the Reid's house for three days and had my first real relaxation time in two months. I spent two weeks with them when I was 15 and have since thought of it as a second home. The hustle and bustle means that no one minds if you disappear for a few hours. They're getting used to the fact that I take naps like crazy and will say something if I don't like what they have planned for me. Lizzo is an amazing mum and takes me under her wing whenever I'm there. The three days I was there were made up of seeing old friends and getting some serious rest in. Watching tv and washing windows (by choice!), going out with Becky and her friends. It was a really good time and gave me some much needed time to recharge my batteries. I can't say that I'm looking forward to school in September, but I'm not dreading it anymore. I think that as soon as I'm fully rested, I will start to enjoy the idea of learning again.
I caught the train early on Saturday morning (very early) and climbed on a plane to Madrid! The continental portion of my trip is based almost entirely on the whims of Chelsea (my travel buddy and one of my best friends) and I. Chelsea arrived before me and she, Sarah, and Aurel were at the airport to greet me. I have had the fortune and luck of seeing Sarah about every few months but I haven't seen Aurel since last April and I haven't spent quality time with Chels since December. We went back to Sarah and Aurel's apartment, went shopping for outfits so that we could be completely dressed in white, and went to the grocery store. Then we piled into the rental car and headed to Pamplona for the Festivale San Fermin (otherwise known as the Running of the Bulls).
We left at 6pm and arrived at 11.30pm. Five hours of straight driving and we got out of the car and started drinking immediately. Its hard to explain how incredibly huge this party was. EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, is dressed completely in white with red scarfs tied around their necks. Everyone over the age of 12 is at some level of drunkenness and almost everyone is planning on staying up all night. We wandered the streets of Pamplona clutching our boxes of Sangria and soaking up the atmosphere. This was the last night of the festival and the next morning was the last bull run. Everyone was out to party. From 11.30pm to 6am we attended several free concerts held throughout the town, went dancing at a club, and found the best kebab I've ever tasted. Everyone was in high spirits and it was incredibly surreal. I hadn't slept on my flight or the night before so I was drunk with exhaustion and happiness. The only way I can come close to explaining it is a rugby weekend where everyone is rooting for the same team and the attendance is the size of 1 million people. It's something that you really can't know unless you've been.
At 6am we all flocked to the stadium that the bulls and runners end up in. The run didn't start until 8am but we had to get our seats. We spent the next two hours trying to stay awake and taking pictures to document the epic night. At 8am, a tv screen in the arena showed us the run starting. Men of all ages, dressed in white, stretching and preparing for battle. I soon realized that to run with the bulls makes you more of a man (at least in the eyes of these crazy people) and to touch to bull basically means you're a god. Two people had died during this years week-long festival, but luckily no one died in this run. We did see some blood and some serious injuries, but no deaths.
The run starts outside the stadium and ends in the stadium. Is actually kind of funny watching the thousands of runners filter into the ring and to the edges of the dirt to stay out of the way of the bulls. Then the bulls run through and its all over pretty fast (aside from the unfortunate few who come in contact with the horns). The show isn't over though. The men all stay in the stadium and a smaller, baby bull comes out and in its confusion and desire to be back with its mother, it charges the men in the ring. This is mostly harmless, the worst injury we saw was a man knocked unconscious, and most men get right up and start taunting the bull again. At this point, I was torn between sympathy for the animal and really wishing for the idiots in the ring to get thrown around. It was definitely an experience but I don't know if I could watch it again.
After 6 baby bulls came and went, everyone left the stadium for some much needed sleep. At this point, it was 9am. I had slept 4 hours in the last 48 hours. I was dead. We had a quick picnic and then slept in the car for a couple hours. When we had just enough energy to do the 5 hour drive back, we left. We arrived home, had some dinner, and went back to sleep. I woke up 15 hours later for an awesome couple days in Madrid, but that blog is soon to come.
Love you all. Don't forget to smile, they're contagious.
Besos!
Ash
No comments:
Post a Comment