Monday, March 28, 2011
¡Familia en España!
As most people know my family got here on Saturday and they are currently enjoying the beautiful weather. We are supposed to have a solid week right around 70 but with the sun here it feels like it's in the 80's. Yesterday we walked all around the city and had a lovely lunch with my host family. Today i'm at school till 230 but they are enjoying themselves at the beach and around the water. Here are some pictures from yesterday i'll try and post daily what i'm doing with the family :)
sisters :)
Erin's First Red Wine
The Frazier Girls :)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sore Feet, but a Once in a Lifetime opportunity!
Yesterday I took a trip with my University from Alicante to Valencia which is about 2 hours north of the city. We went up for the final day of the festival of "Las Fallas". This is a huge two week city wide celebration in honor of Saint Joseph. This is the most important festival for the people of Valencia and they spend the entire year preparing for next years Fallas. Some background on the festival and what happened during the days before la crema which was the part that I attended.
The fourteen days of "las Fallas" will always begin with la despertà ("the wake-up call"). Brass bands will appear from the casals and begin to march down every road playing lively music. Close behind them are the fallers throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go. Another part of the celebration is the Mascletà, a display of the booming effects of co-ordinated firecracker and fireworks barrages, takes place in each neighbourhood at 2 pm every day of the festival; the main event is the municipal Mascleta in the Plaza de Ayuntamiento where the pyrotechnicians compete for the honor of providing the final Mascleta of the fiestas (on March 19) which I attended. At 2pm the clock chimes and the Fallera Mayor (dressed in her fallera finery) will call from the balcony of City Hall. Senyor pirotècnic, pot començar la "mascletà"! ("Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascletà!"), and the Mascletà begins. Then on March 17 and 18 every person who creates a Falla has to bring an offering of flowers to the Cathedral and they are then turned into a giant statue of the Virgin Mary.
The final day of Fallas March 19th is called La Crema and that is the day that I attended. We left Alicante at 830am and got to Valencia around 11 because we were on a bus and we had to stop outside the city so we all could eat breakfast. Once we got into the city we were just told to be back at 3 am and other than that have fun so we had a lot of freedom to just kind of wander the city and see what we could find. After walking for a block we came across our first Falla which was only about 2 stories high making it a relatively small one. Next to the big fallas there is a small one, or falla infintil. While the large fallas are usually politically charged towards someone or something (for example this year there was one like Obama that was called "Blanca Nieve" (Snow White)), the infintil fallas are just cute and usually created with the help of the children in the neighborhood that raised the money for that falla. The detail is crazy on every one. After that we walked down the street and found our first truly giant falla. This one had to have been between 4 and 5 stories tall and it was beautiful, I don't know how they get them to stand that tall and the way that some of the components are set up on the actual falla is unbelieveable. All in all there are hundreds of these throughout the city. We walked around finding more and more until 115 when we headed to the Plaza de Ayuntamiento for la Mascleta which i described above. It was amazingly loud, i couldn't even believe it. Like I said above at 2pm they began to shoot of fireworks in broad daylight, like the gran finale of a fourth of July fireworks show right from the start. By the end the explosions were so powerful you could feel things shaking around us and all we could do was stand with our mouths wide open to keep our ear drums from bursting.
After la Mascleta we went to find the giant Virgin Mary made out of flowers. On the way there we walked past the first place Falla for the year which cost 90,000 Euros to build just to be lit on fire at the end of the night. On the way to the Virgin which is kept at the Cathedral near the Plaza de Reina. On the walk from the Plaza we were passed by a parade of children dressed up in tradicional Valencian dresses which we later found out can cost thousands of Euros to have made. They are beautiful and it was a part of the culture that doesn't really get seen except for during these gigantic festivals. Another crazy thing that happened on the way to the cathedral is we got sidetracked down a street and I thought i recognized someone and kinda did a double take as they did the same thing, it ended up being someone i had gone to elementary, middle and high school with that i hadn't talked to since graduation, Mike Carey. He is studying in Barcelona this semester but what were the odds of running into someone from your hometown that you hadn't seen in years in Spain. We got to the Virgin Mary and decided we wanted to get away from the crowds and walked towards the aquarium and the city of the arts and sciences.
On the way to the city of the arts we came across an awesome park and the college kids we are decided we wanted to play on the slides, they were amazing. After playing at the park for about 30 minutes we continued walking to the city of the arts and sciences. When we got there it was so pretty, all white and futuristic looking. The architecture is amazing and the building looks like a fish with pools surrounding the main building. After we took a bunch of pictures and sat in the sun for a while we went to find somewhere to eat for dinner and ended up picking a sit down place and were there for a while. After eating it was about 730 and we decided to walk back towards the Virgin to meet up with some friends, also there was a falla and a falla infantil there and they began to light the falla infintils off at around 10 and we didn't want to miss that. On the walk we got a bit distracted and decided to buy some churros and bunuelos which are just treats that are very very yummy. Once we got to the plaza and met our friends it was close to 940 so we went and got a seat near the falla so that we could see the real spectacle of the night.
At 10pm we had front row seats to the first fire and it was a crazy the heat from the small falla was enough to make you want to take your jacket off. it took about 10 seconds for the falla to set on fire. They started with a chain reaction shooting off fireworks and really loud poppers it was a spectacle in itself, once it went up in flames the whole crowd began to cheer and we decided to wait until the large falla was supposed to get lit on fire around 12. However at 1215 a man came by with a sign that said this falla wasn't going to get lit until around 2 because of safety reasons they had pushed the time back. We all trekked to McDonalds to sit inside because it was getting cold and we after an hour at McDonalds we went back outside and they began to set up the explosions that would light the big one on fire. At about 215 they ignited it and it was one of the most amazing things i had seen all day. They launched about 80 fireworks and in the middle of the fireworks show the falla just went up in flames. They needed the fire department there to control the burn because it was close to buildings and people. It was an amazing experience. After that we just headed back to our starting location and got on the bus at around 330, i was alseep by 335 and we got back to alicante around 6. That was my day yesterday sorry it took so long for an update, and sorry this one was so long. Saturday my family gets here and i'm so excited to show them my home here in Spain. Here are a TON of pictures from fallas to try and show you guys a taste of what i experienced!
The first Falla that we saw
The first massive falla that we saw
A falla infintil and a big falla
Size Comparison between me and the falla
Paul the Octopus on the Fallas
The Obama Falla (online)
The fireworks that set the Falla on fire
This is what a falla looks like when it gets lit on fire
The fourteen days of "las Fallas" will always begin with la despertà ("the wake-up call"). Brass bands will appear from the casals and begin to march down every road playing lively music. Close behind them are the fallers throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go. Another part of the celebration is the Mascletà, a display of the booming effects of co-ordinated firecracker and fireworks barrages, takes place in each neighbourhood at 2 pm every day of the festival; the main event is the municipal Mascleta in the Plaza de Ayuntamiento where the pyrotechnicians compete for the honor of providing the final Mascleta of the fiestas (on March 19) which I attended. At 2pm the clock chimes and the Fallera Mayor (dressed in her fallera finery) will call from the balcony of City Hall. Senyor pirotècnic, pot començar la "mascletà"! ("Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascletà!"), and the Mascletà begins. Then on March 17 and 18 every person who creates a Falla has to bring an offering of flowers to the Cathedral and they are then turned into a giant statue of the Virgin Mary.
The final day of Fallas March 19th is called La Crema and that is the day that I attended. We left Alicante at 830am and got to Valencia around 11 because we were on a bus and we had to stop outside the city so we all could eat breakfast. Once we got into the city we were just told to be back at 3 am and other than that have fun so we had a lot of freedom to just kind of wander the city and see what we could find. After walking for a block we came across our first Falla which was only about 2 stories high making it a relatively small one. Next to the big fallas there is a small one, or falla infintil. While the large fallas are usually politically charged towards someone or something (for example this year there was one like Obama that was called "Blanca Nieve" (Snow White)), the infintil fallas are just cute and usually created with the help of the children in the neighborhood that raised the money for that falla. The detail is crazy on every one. After that we walked down the street and found our first truly giant falla. This one had to have been between 4 and 5 stories tall and it was beautiful, I don't know how they get them to stand that tall and the way that some of the components are set up on the actual falla is unbelieveable. All in all there are hundreds of these throughout the city. We walked around finding more and more until 115 when we headed to the Plaza de Ayuntamiento for la Mascleta which i described above. It was amazingly loud, i couldn't even believe it. Like I said above at 2pm they began to shoot of fireworks in broad daylight, like the gran finale of a fourth of July fireworks show right from the start. By the end the explosions were so powerful you could feel things shaking around us and all we could do was stand with our mouths wide open to keep our ear drums from bursting.
After la Mascleta we went to find the giant Virgin Mary made out of flowers. On the way there we walked past the first place Falla for the year which cost 90,000 Euros to build just to be lit on fire at the end of the night. On the way to the Virgin which is kept at the Cathedral near the Plaza de Reina. On the walk from the Plaza we were passed by a parade of children dressed up in tradicional Valencian dresses which we later found out can cost thousands of Euros to have made. They are beautiful and it was a part of the culture that doesn't really get seen except for during these gigantic festivals. Another crazy thing that happened on the way to the cathedral is we got sidetracked down a street and I thought i recognized someone and kinda did a double take as they did the same thing, it ended up being someone i had gone to elementary, middle and high school with that i hadn't talked to since graduation, Mike Carey. He is studying in Barcelona this semester but what were the odds of running into someone from your hometown that you hadn't seen in years in Spain. We got to the Virgin Mary and decided we wanted to get away from the crowds and walked towards the aquarium and the city of the arts and sciences.
On the way to the city of the arts we came across an awesome park and the college kids we are decided we wanted to play on the slides, they were amazing. After playing at the park for about 30 minutes we continued walking to the city of the arts and sciences. When we got there it was so pretty, all white and futuristic looking. The architecture is amazing and the building looks like a fish with pools surrounding the main building. After we took a bunch of pictures and sat in the sun for a while we went to find somewhere to eat for dinner and ended up picking a sit down place and were there for a while. After eating it was about 730 and we decided to walk back towards the Virgin to meet up with some friends, also there was a falla and a falla infantil there and they began to light the falla infintils off at around 10 and we didn't want to miss that. On the walk we got a bit distracted and decided to buy some churros and bunuelos which are just treats that are very very yummy. Once we got to the plaza and met our friends it was close to 940 so we went and got a seat near the falla so that we could see the real spectacle of the night.
At 10pm we had front row seats to the first fire and it was a crazy the heat from the small falla was enough to make you want to take your jacket off. it took about 10 seconds for the falla to set on fire. They started with a chain reaction shooting off fireworks and really loud poppers it was a spectacle in itself, once it went up in flames the whole crowd began to cheer and we decided to wait until the large falla was supposed to get lit on fire around 12. However at 1215 a man came by with a sign that said this falla wasn't going to get lit until around 2 because of safety reasons they had pushed the time back. We all trekked to McDonalds to sit inside because it was getting cold and we after an hour at McDonalds we went back outside and they began to set up the explosions that would light the big one on fire. At about 215 they ignited it and it was one of the most amazing things i had seen all day. They launched about 80 fireworks and in the middle of the fireworks show the falla just went up in flames. They needed the fire department there to control the burn because it was close to buildings and people. It was an amazing experience. After that we just headed back to our starting location and got on the bus at around 330, i was alseep by 335 and we got back to alicante around 6. That was my day yesterday sorry it took so long for an update, and sorry this one was so long. Saturday my family gets here and i'm so excited to show them my home here in Spain. Here are a TON of pictures from fallas to try and show you guys a taste of what i experienced!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Spaniards sure know how to throw a party!
So this weekend was one of the coolest weekends i've had in Spain yet. Thursday the Third was the first night of Carnival, which is a celebration before lent similar to Mardi Gras in the United States. However in Spain Carnival lasts for ten days and in Alicante there is one night that is always crazier than the others. In Alicante that is the first Saturday so for us it was the 5th. Which is the day when the city's main thoroughfares, La Rambla and El Barrio, fill with stunning costume parades, music and dancing. I didn't see any of the big parades because we didn't know what time they were at but by the time we all went out to the barrio on Saturday the entire Rambla which is the big street that runs from the beach up near the Mercado Central was packed with people. The thing is here it's not just people in the street almost every single person is in costume and they aren't just basic simple costumes there were a lot of costumes that took time to make. The costume that I saw that would probably be the coolest or most intricate was this guy dressed as like a boat but not like a small sailboat no he was dressed as a big boat like you would see in Pirates of the Carribean. The thing that I personally found strange was that it was completely acceptable to be dressed up wearing black face and/ or to be dressed like middle eastern terrorists.
Carnival isn't just a party though it has a strong significance to the people of Spain because of the large number of Catholics in the country. it is believed the term Carnival derives from the words "farewell to the flesh," a reference to the excesses that led up to the sombre Lent. Some suspect Carnival is derived from the Roman solstice festival, the Saturnalia, where participants indulged in much drinking and dancing. Saturnalia is believed to have had the first parade floats, called the 'carrus navalis'. Due to the pagan roots Franco banned Carnival for 40 years and that is why each year the celebrations get bigger and bigger.
The group Thursday Night with Masks photo by Anna Lauren
Me and my friend Hannah Thursday another by Anna Lauren
Me in my sweet mask for Thursday (Anna Lauren)
Spanish Costumes (desfrases) foto by Anna Lauren
Another Desfrase, (anna lauren)
Groups dressed toghether (AL)
The really cool boat costume
Saturdays Outfit: 20's Gangster :)
American girls celebrating Carnival
So even though the big celebration is over next week and the weekend are still considered Carnival, so we will see how next weekend is I also don't know if I will ever see a party like this one in the United States, so it was a once in a lifetime amazing opportunity. Here are a ton of pictures with the captions of what they are!
Before and After (Jillian)
Carnival isn't just a party though it has a strong significance to the people of Spain because of the large number of Catholics in the country. it is believed the term Carnival derives from the words "farewell to the flesh," a reference to the excesses that led up to the sombre Lent. Some suspect Carnival is derived from the Roman solstice festival, the Saturnalia, where participants indulged in much drinking and dancing. Saturnalia is believed to have had the first parade floats, called the 'carrus navalis'. Due to the pagan roots Franco banned Carnival for 40 years and that is why each year the celebrations get bigger and bigger.
So even though the big celebration is over next week and the weekend are still considered Carnival, so we will see how next weekend is I also don't know if I will ever see a party like this one in the United States, so it was a once in a lifetime amazing opportunity. Here are a ton of pictures with the captions of what they are!
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