SAN FERMIN

As most people know, (hehumm I found out in Spain), there is a saint for everyday. In Spain each city has a patron saint and for that day and however many they wish around it that town celebrates with a fiesta. Pamplona's patron saint is San Fermin who's day is July 7th and they celebrate from July 6th to 14th. The Fiestas de San Fermin is the most well known fiesta in the world (of Spain's cities I mean) and is more widely known by you guiris as "The Running Of The Bulls". For this guiris call spaniards crazy with the bull running - like it's something that happens all the time - when actually there are more guiris that run than anyone else (guiri means foreigner), and it's always a giddy who gets hurt and from what I've seen usually their fault. I'm pretty sure I've said before how the typical spanish culture people think of with bull fights and flamenco actually doesn't exist in Pamplona. Pamplona uses it's bull ring for fights only in San Fermines. After these seven days, six bulls a day no matador even enters the ring. The running is actually something traditional - I think the story is that they couldn't think of another way to more the bulls from the corral to the ring so it was some poor group of boys jobs to have them chase them there. People heard of this thinking it was crazy and came to watch then little by little people joined and now look where it's at. The Encierro as it's called is the main event I suppose of the fiestas but not the only thing that happens.

July 6th at 12 noon is the Chupinazo. This is the beginning of the fiesta, everyone holds up their panuelo (red scarf) that up until this moment couldn't be worn on your neck, then someone important sets of a rocket and the fiesta begins! Beginning of course with bottles of sangria, wine, tinto de verano, champagne, eggs and whatever else people find being thrown and dumped onto everybody and anybody. In the first fifteen minutes your first set of white clothes are ruined. Basically if you are in Pamplona at noon on July 6th - you're drunk. Later in the afternoon instead of an actual bull fight there is something with bulls and horses that I missed unfortunately because I was taking a siesta en preparation for the night. Every night starts with fireworks at eleven, then there are concerts going on in I think four different plazas, botellones (spanish activity of drinking in the street) everywhere and the streets and bars so full your feet barely touch the ground. The morning of the 7th, actual day of San Fermin, there is a procession; a parade of the kilikies and gigantes (typical huge people from pamplona, the kilikies go around hitting children with sponge bat things and the gigantes are four couples representing different parts of the world that measure I think four meters tall. There are orchestras and traditional dances. Then before San Fermin (his statue) comes they sing a jota - typical song from Navarra - which is something special, I almost cried along with the majority of the crowd and then San Fermin is carried by and every one cheers.

The mornings start at 8 when the Navarra men chant to San Fermin three times to watch over them before the bulls are released and in about 3 minutes the six bulls are in the Plaza de Toros 800m from where they started. That is fast. And fyi it is impossible to outrun a pack of bulls. After trampling over people and blood being shed everyone arrives in the bull ring - the bulls are led to the back and the guiris feel proud. The they let out cows, one at a time with corked horns just for fun - very fun to watch. Then off to breakfast, churros y chocolate, before the gigantes have a parade from 9:30 until 14:00. Also during this time there are other things to do but more for children because if not this is the only time you have to sleep. After sleeping and eating there is a ton of things to do - the streets are jammed full, there are street markets and different buskers. Magicians to dancers to entertaining drunks (people do stay under the influence for the whole seven days) plenty of things to see and do to pass your afternoon. At six thirty is the bull fight where men in tight sparkly costumes with capes elegantly murder six bulls a day. The usual bull fight, like the ones in Sevilla for example, are quiet and respectful, you can actually hear the bull breathing. In Pamplona some people try, and they sit in the shaded side standing and clapping when they should. The other half of the crowd, in el sol, sing, dance, drink, share everything, eat a lot, throw everything, yell and heckle, there are bands playing - it's quite the atmosphere and you leave with pink clothes instead of white and could be there without even noticing the bulls. After the bull fight the bands leave in a messy parade and everyone joins in dancing. Then from nine to eleven you grab your bocadillo and drinks and the night starts again ending with Las Dianas at 6:45 which is another band that goes through the old part of town with drunks following and singing along. From there it's off to find a place to watch the encierro and your days continue así.

My San Fermin experience was alright. As a guiri yet not in the same catagory I was hoping to meet a lot of people and really experience the biggest fiesta in the world that I heard SO much about alll year. However I spent the few nights that I went out in the same bar we always go to where I don't usually have a good time. Reasons? Well it's full of my whole grade and the younger ones, the layout is really weird so we either end up in a back corner or right at the entrance.