Barcelona study abroad Summer 2011: Day 13 & 14/Pamplona and running with the bulls

. WOW, WOW, WOW. Pamplona was amazing, incredible, unbelievable, indescribable, but I will try anyways. We met outside of Hard Rock Cafe on Saturday at 2pm, so we got to sleep in a little bit. We then hopped on a charter bus with zero leg room for 6 hours. It was cool to see how the country is different between the States and here though. We stopped a couple of times for snacks and bathroom breaks, and I bet you can guess what I ate. First stop, Magnum ice cream bar (I told you I was addicted) and second stop, a baguette. We got there a little later than our expected 8pm arrival, but we were so excited to get off of the bus that we didn't even care. As we pulled up to the Pamplona bus station, we saw a huge field with vendors and a band so we our emotions began to take over. Little did we know that this same field would turn into a pre-apocalyptic site come 4 or 5am. We all rushed off of the bus to go to the bathroom inside of a bar where they were singing and dancing. And this is where the group first broke off, with some continuing on. We had no idea where to buy our outfits for the city-wide "festival of San Fermín", so we got eager as soon as we saw our first street vendors. They only sold bandannas and belts though, so we had to continue our search. As soon as we turned around the first corner, I knew it was going to be an awesome trip. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY (except for us, temporarily) was wearing the same outfit of white pants, white shirts, red belts, and red bandannas. So, we obviously stuck out because we weren't wearing the appropriate threads for the festival, so we searched onward, only we didn't know which way to go. So we decided to walk forwards towards the masses of people, and luckily some seasoned veterans (although drunk) pointed us in the right direction, after providing us with a little bit of humor. After walking for a couple of minutes, we passed a parade that was hootin' and hollerin' and jammin' to a band. It was only right for us to jump in and join the festivities. So, we observed for a couple of seconds and then jumped in. After a couple minutes of shouting and dancing, the parade passed so we decided to part ways and continue our search for the white get-ups. As we headed towards the bullfighting arena, we met up with some of the other people from CEA that didn't take the bus here. One of them came last year so he knew where everything was a lot better than us. So, we followed him and he got us where we needed to go, as well as providing us with a nice little tour of the city. We went to a shop that was right off of the course of the running of the bulls and right across from the arena.. They had everything we needed, at a very affordable price! So, we went crazy and got dressed up from ankle to toe in the necessary attire. We even got dressed up in the store and as soon as I put the pants on, the lady working behind the counter told me that I needed to go a size up and let me exchange them. I guess she understoon that me and skinny jeans (or skinny anything) don't mesh well. When we exited the store, we continued back on our journey of Pamplona, with 10 hours to kill and nothing to stop us. Once we realized that it was going to be tough to find each other in the crowd because everybody looked the same, we created a signal to let the group know that as soon as the signal (bull horns with the hand, like the Texas Longhorns symbol) went up, we were on the go. Or if you lost somebody then you could throw it in the air and be found soon haha. When we left the store, we headed down the course of the run, which was where most of the action and stores and people were located. As soon as we started though, it started raining and went off and on all night, which was a bummer but we were having so much fun that it didn't even matter. So, we continued walking and mingling with the other festival-goers when some people decided to go to a storage building to put their bags up for the night. We all sat on a statue outside and took pictures and soaked the night up while people were still inside, when all of a sudden a different parade walked by us. We decided to stay on the statue instead of jumping into it, but luckily for us they stopped on the building right in front of us and the band began to play. They played American songs so of course we all sang right along, ecstatically. The singing went back and forth between the band members and the parade-goers for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then they moved on and we decided to hang out for a little longer when all of a sudden we heard fireworks. We headed towards the exploding lights in the sky and arrived at them shortly after. They were AMAZING. We saw it as a way to get our fireworks in for the 4th of July because we missed out on it the night of. America, all I have to say is step your game up. This was easily the best fireworks show that I have ever seen, and possibly will ever see. And they do it every night of the festival! It lasted for probably 30+ minutes with nonstop action and included fireworks that I have never seen before. It was put together so well that it looked like almost the entire city stopped what they were doing to watch the show. When we left, we headed back towards the main part of the festival, where the majority of the people were partying. On our way, we stopped back at the main plaza to regroup where we were standing earlier for the parade. Some of the group decided it would be a good idea to climb on the children's slide and play on the playground, so it was very funny to watch them do this. And what made it especially funny was that two 10 year-olds were throwing firecrackers at all of us and the surrounding people for about an hour...at midnight! 2 10 year-olds with lighters and firecrackers at midnight?! What a sight! We eventually saw enough drunk tomfoolery and actually headed back to the main strip. Once we got back, we saw a little space in between two buildings with bright lights and loud noises so we decided to check it out. What a good idea! There was live music and lots of people dancing, so we made our way up to the front of the crowd. The band was signing blues and other classic American songs, way more than enough for us to get our jive on. The band sang in perfect English, but in between songs, they would talk in Spanish. I even met up with Jackie (Brad's friend from school) there and we talked for a little bit and hung out at the concert but then split up when our group peaced out. We were here for almost 2 hours enjoying the night away, but then people in the group decided that they were sobering up, so off to the bars we went. This is when things got ugly and people started getting their own ideas and the group began to split up. One of the main beverages for the festival is Coke mixed with wine. Although I was not able to try this, I DID get shot with some of it through a water gun. Which is also a popular thing to do at the event: shoot wine and Coke at people out of a water gun. Hopefully it comes out of my white shirt, but if not, then it makes it look more original. I was really hoping the bull horn group sign was going to be a success, but not so much! The night began to go slower once our group numbers began to die down, and the town began to get more and more trashed as night became day. I would say that when we got off the bus, we started off with around 20 or more people, and by the time the sun came up, we were down to 3. People got tired and decided to sprawl out and try to sleep in the fields or in the bus station, or in the street. From what I hear, very few people pulled all-nighters, except us. To kill some time, we walked over to the where they were holding the steers and bulls. This might have not been such a good idea! They were HUGE! Regardless though, more people than we expected still ran with the bulls! I ran with 2 other guys, Sam and Bobby, who go to Kansas and Penn State. They are real cool and I am glad that I stayed with them because I don't know if I would have run by myself. We walked the entire course before it began and arrived to where we wanted to run at about 6am. It was awesome to see the sun rise and the people fill the streets before the race. As people started lining up and pouring out on the balconies above the course, we knew that the time was coming to put our game faces on! At 6am the streets were still wet and dirty with trash from the night before, but by 7:30am, they were almost spotless compared to what they were when we got there. They have their ish DOWN in Pamplona. We started about 100 yards after the beginning of the race, so we didn't make it into the bull fighting arena because they close the gates when all the bulls get into the ring. Oh well, we still ran with the bulls! We knew we were in a good location because the legitimate, seasoned veterans were all around us. I mean the people who looked like they don't take any crap from any people, any bulls, ANYBODY! They had their newspapers (which they use to tick off the bulls when they stray from the pack) and were dressed like they have done this before, many times. I have never been so scared, yet so excited at the same point. The cobblestone was still a little bit slippery at the beginning of the race, but luckily nobody got gored and only about 10 people got hurt. But, somebody got trampled RIGHT next to us! It was insane to see! Luckily though, some of the other runners stopped around him and formed a wall so nobody else would trip over him and the cops were right next to where he fell. I was pushed out of the way by some of the medical staff who carried a stretcher out to him. We were probably only 5 feet away from the steers and bulls when they ran by. Soon after, I met up with Sam and Bobby and we headed back to the bus, but not without some souvenirs for people back home. Talk about the best Halloween costume ever! I want to run again though and start at a different point and actually make it into the arena. Despite the weather, everybody in the group was safe and only a few people returned back to the bus late! The wetness mixed with the drunkenness was probably not a good idea after seeing how much some people drank. Pamplona is such a beautiful city, although not huge, with it's cobblestone streets in the heart of the city and beautiful buildings. And the balconies overlooking the course of the bull-run were amazing, especially as they began filling up right before the race. Everybody was so tired on the bus ride back that it was almost completely silent for much of the 6 hour drive. When we got back, we decided to get some lunch and luckily we got dropped off in front of Hard Rock Cafe. It was expensive, but at this point we didn't even care. I was craving American food (more importantly, not a baguette, but a hot meal) so bad that seeing this was like a sign from God. It was a good thing that I got talked out of my original order of a smoothie, a side salad, a BBQ plate trio, and a cremme brulee into just a side salad and the BBQ trio. The food was delicious and gave me a big taste of back home. I have never appreciated American food so much, and will never take it for granted again. I am loving the Spanish food, but there is nothing like home! I am getting rushed out of this blog because we are going out tonight so I am sorry it is so jumbled! All in all, Pamplona was INCREDIBLE and I high recommend to go to the Festival of San Fermín at some point in your life.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/10/501364/main20078255.shtml
skip to :36 seconds, I was to the right of the guy who got trampled!
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/world/20110710_ap_10hurtnogoringsspainsrunningofthebulls.html?c=r