Encierro

First day of the encierro (to lock/shut up) - running of the bulls - we had to be on the bus at 4:30 a.m. to get to Pamps. Clothes still wet and purple from Opening Ceremony, we loaded tiredly into the double decker and slept a wee bit more on the 1+ ride. In the northern part of Spain, it is quite chilly in the morning, and having wet clothes, we were pretty cold and miserable. Separating from our braves friends who intended to actually RUN with the bulls, we made our way to the bull ring, where the run ends. Being there early is important to get a good seat, but we were in the shade and couldn't seem to get our oomph while we waited for the 8am run to start. A quarter till, they began showing highlights on the arena's big screen and also showed pictures of the bulls that were running that morning. Nicole and I finally forced down an early morning beer and felt better so that we could pump up for the event! There are 3 rockets: the first to announce that the corral door has been opened, the second to alert runners that the bulls have left the pen and the final to signal that all the bulls are in the bullring and the run is over. When rocket one went off, two was quickly behind and it took a total of 3 minutes for the 6 bulls and mass of runners to flood into the bullring. It seemed to be a pretty clean run and although one bull fell down, there appeared no major injuries or incidents. The bulls are held in pens until the evening bull fights where they are to be killed :( 6 bulls everyday... Very sad and something I did not watch.

In the bull ring they release 1 young bull at a time with taped horns, and the people in the ring run around and slap their bums, pull their tails and grab their horns (although the latter two are considered taboo and could lead to getting beat up by Spaniards). When the guys (mostly all males) provoke the bulls, they occasionally buck them, charge them or pin them against walls, although we saw no major injuries. Everyone in the crowd roots for the bulls and considers the provokers idiots, although we knew A LOT of those idiots as friends and also hoped no one was seriously hurt. After a few minutes, a neutered steer with a bell around its neck comes out to get the young bulls attention and lead it out of the arena. The crowd applauds as it exits and we all sigh a sigh of relief that no one (and no bull) was harmed. Apparently these young bulls are being trained to run their own run years later and also participate in the bull fight, where they will die. More sad faces....

At the conclusion of the first run, we met up with Barry (no sign of Taylor had me a bit worried) and headed to the bus garage - a warm, but filthy place to sleep while we waited for our bus (scheduled for pick up at 10:30). At this point, we had forgotten what it was like to be clean and only cared about the basic survival needs: food, warmth and sleep. Back at the camp we took long showers and scrubbed the stink off, which was moot prior to the night ahead of us.

Pamplona holds a firework festival after the first run day and we had to be back on the bus by 7pm. This was a crazy night in the town filled with Sangria, small parades, Spanish songs and flashing boobies. After the night, we had an option to stay in Pamplona all night, or get on the shuttle at midnight to go back to camp for only 2 hours before the 4:30 am bus. Nicole got on the bus, but I decided to stay with Taylor and others all night. As the bus pulled away, I immediately regretted that decision! We danced, we partied, we saw a spanish concert, and when the night was over at 4am, we went back to the dirty garage for some sleep. We woke up in time to walk BACK to the bullring (yes, this is a new day, but hard to tell) where we slept through the entire event!!!

We finally made it back to our camp for check out, but since we had no reservations, we were told we could camp another night. Trust me, by this point I had no voice, I was cold, tired and grouchy. I wanted nothing more than a hotel room and was willing to shell out some serious denaro to make it happen. Instead of worrying about that, we headed to the beach for a beautiful and sunny day. I rested and took in the real San Sebastian. The women go topless there and the attitude is so very laid back. PDA is not uncommon, nor is a woman breastfeeding, an old naked man walking the beach, and children sans clothes. I played in the Baltic sea waves which were cold, clear and bigger than expected. The beach is called Surfer's beach and there were plenty of surfers.

We stayed at the Fanatics our final night for an extra 20euro each and had a miserable time. Being sick, I stayed in while Nicole went out one more night with our Fanatics friends. I asked her to tuck me in (basically cover me with layers of my clothes) to the point where I could not move. When she got back she ended up wrapping herself in layers of her own clothes for warmth. We shivered and complained all night, but got through it.