I´ll be honest here, I have absolutley no idea how or where or when to start this post. We are back from the most intense, fun, scary, different and indescribable 36 hours ever which we spent in Pamplona during the San Fermin festival 2 days ago. We barely slept, and when we did we did so in a parking lot. We saw so many crazy and new things and have so much to say that, to be honest, any description of the event will have to wait until Paul and I are face to face with whoever is reading this. Just to give you an idea of how full this event was, my camera has 600 pictures from the past 5 weeks that we have spent in europe...100 of these are from the Pamps! I think that the hour that i have at this cafe is barely enough for me to describe a hundredth of what took place during the festival. Because of that I thought I´d focus on what was the scaiest moment and probably the one that most of you want to hear about, the Encierillo, or the Running of the Bulls. Here is a quick website if you want to see a good summary of the Running´s history, the rules and some videos from last year. We found this site before the run, last week, but we refrained from publishing it for the mental well being of loved ones who might not agree with said run.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A769764The photo on the right is a quick one I took at the beginning of the track, a
round 6 am, when we arrived to take our places on the track. The run happens every day at 8 am for 7 days while the festival is running. This means that every morning around 6 am, people slowy begin filing in from the streets to the course. I say from teh streets because the San Fermin festival is, as much as I doubted before I saw it, a 24 hour a day, 7 day party. It is ridiculous how constant the festivities are. Our run took place on the second day of the festival, the 8th (if you want to find a video online and look for us). We had had a mix-up the day before, maybe explanied later, but the conclusion was taht we were smarter and more informed the second day about the run. So at around 5 am I was awoken from the driver´s seat in the car where I had been sleeping by another party-goer of ours, Krista, who had had more stamina than I and had just returned for a ´nap´. Being a gentleman, i let her have the car and since our friend Louis was in the second seat I took to a bench in the parking lot where we were, put my bandana over my head and dozed for a few more minutes. Of course, i was too cold to sleep, even in my sweater so I went to beg entry into the car. Louis managed to scooch up the car seat a little and I wrapped one of my legs around the stick shift of the car and somehow contorted my way into what I believe is the lotus position, sleep worthy. At 5:45, the official wake up happened and the 3 of us took the bus to the PLaza del Torros, downtown, to get into position. This is where it gets difficult to explain what one is feeling. The plan is to line up early, wait until they close the track to new entrants at 730, then wait until 8 when the first firework goes off. This is to signify that the bulls have been released from the pen and that you´re boned. A second one goes off when ALL the bulls are out of the pen, this means that you are SERIOUSLY boned. After that its what no camera has done justice, a narrow street full of scared, sprinting individuals, who are desperatly trying to look behind them and not trip over those in front as they wind their way to the bullring.
Well...thats the plan, sounds easy, right? Let me tell you, time is realtive. The minutes before 8 am take jsut as long as the wait from 630-755. And then, the wait from the moment that the first rocket goes off, until you´re staring down 6 400lb bulls is 20 times longer than that.
We spent most of six and seven oclock chatting to random people and posing for pictures like
´the running man´on the left. An aussie named Dale who had become sperated from his friends and wanted some companions teamed up with us. After that, we talked to an
american who had been doing the run for 10 years and was ready to dole out quick tips and strategies for weaving. Key tips such as: stay down if youre down, don´t take teh outside of teh corners (the bulls slip on the cobblestones and smash into the opposite walls on teh turns), hope that the two first rockets are close (meaning that teh bulls are in a tight group and as such, easier to dodge) and then he regailed us with stories of how his fathers friend who was ¨"a legend" in pamplona, had bitten it the day before ad was in teh hospital wiht a broken ankle. Great... The legend is in teh hospital, do i even have a chance? This became even more interesting as papers circulated with pictures of the bulls, their names, stats, ages and weight, along with otehr scarier information that i didnt even want to see. A thought ran through my mind: all this talk about us staying safe, knowing the ruls and not being stupid...is this bull just going to shmammer me anyways?
Well, come 755 when the crowd had thinned slightly and the track was now closed, we pushed our way to the middle of the course, away from the most dangerous curve called Dead man´s corner. The anticipation began to build. As those around us became more and more agitated. Those stretching stopped and began looking to the start of the course. I started to worry about pulling a hamstring with my first step and how far i could run on a limp. People were slowly joggin forward already, afraid of the start of the track, they were passing us to get to the end before teh bulls. Dale, Paul and I began moving around, noticably uncertain of what was to come next. At 755 Dale looked at teh two of us and introduced himself for the first time (we hadnt know each otehrs names till then). It felt like the final rights or something, one of those: it was nice knowing you moments.
My clock struck 8 a bit early, and i began to wonder if maybe they had a problem with the bulls, stagefright or something, maybe they wouldnt go this day. At 8 am Pamplona time though, the bell in the square rang and all around us, in teh balconies and streets people erupted in cheering. This only intensified as we heard the sound of the first rocket. It made me jump and we slowly started jogging. By now, people were fully sprinting by us, but the american had told us not to bolt too far, because we were here after all to run WITH the bulls. The excitment at this moment is intense. There is a feeling in teh pit of your stomach that something big is going on, and the energy from all the scared people around you is immense. A minute later teh second rocket went off, meaning that all the bulls were out and I remember yelling some sort of swear word to Paul. By now we were running and pushing thorugh the crowd, trying to look back, to see if teh crowd was seperating. I lost Paul somehwere here, as by now, we were more concerned with looking behind us than at staying together. I remember someone stepped on my shoe here and I almost lost it, wondering quickly if I´d have time to pick it up or if it would be easier to run on wet cobblestone with one shoe.
Again, the fear and excitment ad the feeling of not knowing what to expect was so huge. Ive never felt it before. And it grew even mroe as I heard those in the balconies give a large cheer, signifying that the bulls had rounded the corner and were but 100 metres behind me. I couldnt believe it. I was jumping up while riunning to see where they were. My left? My right? Am I about to be run over? My heart was beating from teh sprint and the feeling of imminent doom. People were pushing harder now, I dont mean shoving, I mean elbows and full out charges...this was the desperation that signified bulls. I looked left just soon enough to see a huge brown one pass me not one metre away. I am not exagerating in teh least here. People had thinned out before me and this beast was running alongside me, its hindlegs pumping on teh cobblestones. My thoughts went like this: "oh jeez, he´s beside me, where are teh others? Left or right? WHy aren´t they in a tight group. AAAAAAAAAA!" And i veered right as a group of 4 or five bulls and cattle pushed their way ahead of me.
I ran after the pack and was close to the bullring. At this point I didnt know if there were any left behind us or not. People were still looking back and I hadnt heard teh third rocket which means that all the bulls are in the ring. I was close to the entrance to the ring now and we were
all still sprinting and sweating with fear in our eyes. I saw a man fall to my left and try to slide under the barrier and tehn began wondering how far any other bulls were because i was about to enter a 25m corridor without fences. Taking my chances, and not slowing down, i burst through into the most incredible sight ever. A stadium full of thousands of cheering people all in red and white, with my running comrades all grouped in teh ring infront of me. Here is a shot from above that paul and i had taken teh day before when we missed teh run. The runners are all of teh people in white in the ring in teh middle. Zoom in and I´m sure that you can see a bull or two in teh ring as well. The feeling of elation and relief are again, indescribable. You run into this huge full staium with people cheering. You start highfiving random ppl and hugging and cheering and dancing. At this point I first realized how exhausted I was. I looked at my watch: 804. I could barely believe it. Heck, i could barely belivee what we had just done.
In the middle of all of this, Paul, Louis and I had somehow found ourselves.
I think if you look at this picture of Paul and I you can see just how ecited we still are. I mean, its unbelieveable looking around and trying to realize what just happened. The picture on the right is also classic because as I ran into Paul and we yelled at each other and embraced as men do, I looked at his shirt and said: dude, is taht blood? It was, sure enough. But not his...what? We donñt know. He did leap over a huge group of ppl but its uncertain.
At this point we were all allowed to stay in the middle of the ring as tehy let out bulls to chase us. Yeah, thats right. Why? I dont know. Smart? Maybe not. Did it happen? You better believe it. But Im running out of time here, maybe next time. I know paul wrote about it and its just as crazy as all of this is. I have to sign off here but let me tell you all, I need to recount this to each and every one of you in person becuase this blog is not doing the event jsutice at all. I´m getting goosebumps now jsut writing about it
The second picture, down below, is the street where I live right now. 26 wesley street, temporary home. My house is the one on the left with the light blue above the door. The street is pretty quiet except for the damn seagulls that congregate on the rooftop every morning and night and don't stop yelling.
