pamplona, numero dos

this may jump around some, but here is pamplona, una experiencia increible that is almost beyond words. madrid era perfecto, y nos quedabamos (we stayed) en la casa de Breanne who would later accompany us to pamplona with 4 of her friends from seattle- brittany, sam, lindsey and aubrey. so, a group 6 girls and kyle...

we missed our train ( which we had reserved) by 5 minutos o menos. tuvimos que pagar por preferente en el proximo pero nos daron una cena (had to pay for 1st class in the next, but gave us dinner) maybe pull up http://www.freetranslation.com/ while your reading since some of this is coming out in spanish.

we arrive in pamplona and meet up with a couple from texas who tagged along with us to find our way to the city center. there were tons of people and fireworks going off when we got there. and by tons of people, i mean tons of people, all in white and red. we went to the bus station to try and find a baggage drop, and instead found another group that joined us. es bueno que kyle can speak spanish because everything was made so much easier without as much of a language barrier. we all made our way to the antigua part of town where there was a place we could check our bags. on the way kyle felt somebody tug at his board shorts pocket, but it was too hard to open, and the texan felt the same thing, but we all had our stuff in good pockets and taken care of so nobody got anything stolen. we found the bag drop, then after a while found the girls (we had planned to meet at the cathedral) and then we were ready to stay up all night.

here is the scene. imagine the biggest street party youve ever been to, or imagine las vegas. now, times that by 10-20. maybe mardi gras in new orleans may compare, but only in some ways. there were people sleeping everywhere they could, and there were people drinking wherever they could, in the stairwells of the bus station, mixing their wine and coke and hard alcohol, everyone of all ages it seems just wandering the streets. all in white with red sashes and bandanas and usually with wine stains everywhere. with all of these people, there come a lot of trash. trash everywhere. a bottle being broken was probably heard every 5 minutes, and there was no where to look that didnt have trash, but the party still went on. there were bands playing in the streets everywhere with crowds gathered around them, a punk band playing some michael jackson and we're standing on a bench dancing, and our group has barely started drinking, just trying to catch up with the rest of everyone around us. kyle stayed out of that this night, he was weighing running in the morning and decided taking care of the girls would also be easier sober... the american girls, especially blondes, are like a magnet in latin countries, so luckily only half of our group was blonde... ha. a good part of the night was spent with kyle using every piece of foul language he knew in spanish, with breanne doing her part, and amanda chiming in with her ¨NO¨ every now and then. it never felt unsafe, it just got annoying.

so passed away the night, and it started getting light, so everyone was round up and headed to the bull run. the girls all got situated near the end of the run near the stadium, and kyle headed off to find the start of the run.

here´s what kyle experienced. he found the start, maybe 100 meters or so from where the bulls were, i couldnt see them, so im just guessing. i found a group of americans studying for a semester somewhere, and hung with them. one of them had run it before and described what was going on, more or less. i would say a little more on the less side. 5 minutes before the rocket goes off that signals the bulls start, everyone does the prayer of san fermin. 3 minutes, everyone does it again. 1 minute, it all happens again. theres a drunk guy with his shirt off that the police make leave. after the first prayer, people start running up the street. the guy who has done it before doesnt know why. the second prayer, more people start running. third prayer, more people start running. my heart is beating faster just as im writing this and remembering what it was like. theres a small girl, same age as me and we are both standing together as the group of americans has somewhat split up during the prayers. we are a little bit farther up the street than when the first prayer started, and jumping up and down trying to keep our legs fresh. the street is wide enough to fit a semi truck and a few feet on each side, and is going uphill on stone that was washed and cleaned from the night before, so its a little bit slippery. people are lined up everywhere on the sides of the streets on on the balconys that poke out from the buildings towering on both sides, so the street is like a canyon of people, all flowing uphill. i thought the anticipation would be the worst part, and voiced that aloud earlier to the americans. i was wrong. moments before the rocket went off im thinking of what i would do if the girl was still around me, throw her out of the way of the bulls or whatever, but the rocket goes off, and people run... some fast, some slow, some still hopping up and down trying to see. it was like i was jogging, hopping up and down looking back, trying to see where the bulls were, but nothing. then people are running. i still havent seen the bulls, but i start running, glancing back and forward to see where im going and to see where they are coming from. at this point in the run, there is no where to go, its walls on both sides. im running on the left and pushing my way towards the wall as the street slowly curves around to the left. the sea of people has been split down the middle, and it wasnt a wide sea to begin with. all of the sudden the bulls, all 6 of them, each weighing in over 1000 pounds, pass me as im running and shoving my way to the wall, along with everyone else around me... except the person i saw, less than 10 feet away, still in the middle of the street, get run over and slammed to the ground. this all happened in an instant, and i dont know where he went after that. others may have been hit too. after this i jog along with everone else to deadmans corner, where the fence has been closed. we all stand there in a huge huddle, and then, everyone starts pushing to the side desperately.... hadnt all the bulls already passed? yes, they had, but it was now time for the tame speers to run through, but it still scared the shit out of me and everyone else. they open the gate, and i get closed in behind it again. finally they let us through, and i run the rest of the way. i see one of the girls, and a couple of the guys from the group before we ran. i know they made it. im not sure what my heart is doing, its almost like im in shock a little bit. i find amanda and the girls right where i left them.

here is part two, the part i didnt experience. but i saw the blood on the ground. again, less than ten feet from where the girls were, a guy was gored. not just any gore. there are two fences of wood, about 8 feet high, with 6 foot of space in between to seperate the bulls and crowd. one of the bulls, the colorado (red one) was the most damaging of the day, he may have been the one who took out the guy i saw, and he was confused and charging people at the end. but back to what amanda and the rest of the girls saw. amanda saw the bull hit the fence, but she didnt know that when the bull hit the fence, there were two people between his head and the fence. the 27 year old spanish man, visting with his mom and dad and girlfriend, was gored in the side of the neck, severing the aortic vein. he was dead within minutes, and amanda and the girls saw it all, but we didnt know he was dead till later that night. its apparently the first death in a lot of years. doesnt matter though. they saw it, i saw the blood on the ground.

how to describe these feelings. i have no desire to ever do anything like that again. im used to being in control, even in dangerous situations. this, there was no control. i picked the part of the run where the bulls run the fastest because its a straight away, but i didnt know that. put me on a track, and maybe id have a chance, but in a street blocked off from the rest of the world, im just a fly on a window. theres no glory in stupidity. ill say ive run with the bulls, but i wont brag about it. its an experience though, and ill take all that i can from it.

this is to our parents, family, friends. we are completely safe and well, and we love you

God Bless.

Amanda and Kyle