And now, I do. San Fermines is crazy, amazing, nothing like anything in the whole world, and yes, the streets smell like pee... and it's great! Before I arrived in Pamplona, I knew San Fermines as the running of the bulls. I thought the bulls ran one time, people got hurt, and that was it. I was really wrong. It's actually a 9 day long party that begins on July 6th and ends on the 14th and the bulls run every day and there are bull fights every day. The way Iñaki explained it to me was that Pamplona is quite a conservative city. People dress in a particular manner, eat meals at the right times, get enough rest, give cordial hellos and the like. San Fermines is the one week of the year where everyone goes crazy and does all their "sinning" in one foul swoop. Here's some more info.
The whole town is into it. You see grandparents out in the street drunk and singing, teenagers with arms interlocked dancing all over and families trudging through all of it. And, everyone, I mean EVERYONE is dressed in white with the red scarf at the neck and waist. You go to the grocery store, and everyone is in the San Fermines outfit, you walk down the street and there it is, you knock on someone's door and they will be wearing it when they answer. The city is completely into it. It's like it doesn't matter if other people can't see you not wearing it, San Fermin can!
My San Fermin began slowly and I only experienced sort of a mini one this year. That was fine with me as I was so jet lagged all week. I returned to Pamplona on Tuesday and went to sleep. All of the plazas, there are numerous, have various events each night and I rested up to catch a couple concerts that night. I'm not sure when I woke up, but I was downtown in time for the fireworks at 11 pm with Iñaki and his cousin, the brother of Nanes, also known as Mikel. Really though, I have to give two snaps and a twist to Mikel because he kicks ass as a person. He's hilarious and we were best friends from the start.
So, we caught the fireworks in the park, which were so close that the debree fell on our heads as we looked up at them. We met up with Irene and Sergio afterwards and hit up the Mateo Parker concert in the Plaza del Castillo. It was packed with people. We headed over to another plaza and checked out a cuban piano player as well, who I can't remember the name of, but it was sweet. I got home pretty early, around 4 I think, and slept until like 3 Wednesday afternoon. I was so tired.
On Wednesday night we went out to this all city inclusive parade called Struendo. During the year in San Sebastian they have a pretty serious and talented drum procession that comes with a certain holiday. It starts at midnight there and goes for a weekend, ending at another midnight, I think. During San Fermines, Pamplona has a drum procession that begins at 11:59, to make fun of the one in San Sebastian sort of, and anyone can come and bang their drums and just make noise in general. So, Iñaki and I took Irene her huge bass drum that her dad had given her that looked pretty official and I took a tiny drum that hangs around your neck on a chord and used pens as sticks. So Irene and I marched down the street with the huge group and Iñaki followed with his purple kazoo. A bunch of TV people stopped Irene because she had such a huge drum, so I just stood behind her and smiled awkwardly. We only walked down one street but it took nearly a half an hour. We left the crowd at that point and hit up the apartment.
I forgot to tell you all about the apartment... Iñaki's friend Eduardo has an apartment right in downtown Pamplona, on the street where the bulls run. He was out of town during the week so he gave the key to Iñaki so we could use it to eat, go to the bathroom, or watch the bulls. It was great!
So, we went to the apartment, made some rum and cokes and hit the town. The streets were jam packed, like the night before. There were people from all over the world and everyone is your best friend. Iñaki had to work the next day, so he went home and Irene and I went out. We just found a bar and hung out and danced the night away. A group of guys found out I was American and started squirting me with a squirt gun, but I took over, fought them for it and won! Mwuah ha ha ha!!
By about 6 I was all danced out and went back to the apartment to get a couple hours rest before the Encierro, running of the bulls, at 8. Irene was a trooper and stayed out all night and met me back at the apartment at about 7:30 and woke me up so I could watch. She had the TV on and was out on the balcony and said, "Darby venga, puedes dormir cuando estás muerta (you can sleep when you're dead)" or something like that. Forgetting I had taken my pants off to get into bed, I walked out on the balcony in my white tank, scarf and white undies, oops. There was a huge crowd, but I ran back in before anyone saw too much, I think. It doesn't really matter anyway because there's lots of "freedom" during the week as far as wearing clothes goes, so I was pretty well covered.
Anyhow, pants entact, I went out on the balcony again and it was amazing. The government building was right there and the street was packed with people either running or watching. We just stood there and gazed in awe. A horn sounds at 8 am and the run starts! First the 6 stronger bulls and then, a few minutes later, the weaker ones. It was crazy. We saw a guy get hit right in front of the apartment. I didn't realize how bad it was until we saw the gorings on the news a few minutes later. Yikes.
We searched different news channels after the run to find more info and saw ourselves on TV from the night before! Irene was in front with her big drum and I was right next to her with my teeny one banging away, it was hilarious. We locked up the apartment and took a leisurely walk and bus ride home and I got back to Tajonar around 10 am. I didn't get to sleep until around 11:30 because I was still all wired. I had to rest for the next two days to prepare for the final day of San Fermines, Saturday the 14th, which is a whole blog for itself. Here are some pictures from the big she-bang thus far in your blog experience...
The opening of San Fermines on the 6th in front of the goverment building. This is a view from the balcony of the apartment. People are packed in and just waiting for the government to say, "ok, now you can party."
This is how it looks for the running of the bulls. They just put fences up and about 15 minutes before 8 they let the crowd spread out a little more than this.
This is me getting dressed for my first night of San Fermin.
This is (left to right) me, Mikel, Irene (half covered by Iñaki), Iñaki and Sergio just after the fireworks on Tuesday. We were in this big carnival game area they had set up walking to the Plaza del Castillo.
This is Irene and I at the cuban pianist concert. Don't worry, that was a communal cup, not just mine ; )
This is Irene being interviewed one of many times about her drum during the midnight music parade, El Struendo.
This is Irene and I carrying our drums to the apartment. As you can see, mine was a tiny.
This was the huge drum that lead the procession and Irene made friends with the guy who guarded it, so we got to take pictures like we were going to hit it, but we weren't really allowed to. Anyway, here's mine.
So, that's it until later when I will tell you all about my amazing last day of San Fermines which was enough to last me the year. Here are some more pictures you can view from one of the papers here. Check back for more!
No comments:
Post a Comment