Pamplona!

I'm in Pamplona, Spain for Sanfermines (the festival where they have the Running of the Bulls). It's really quite crazy here, with people partying in the streets all hours. I've got it good though because I'm staying with some wonderful people named Satur and Beatriz, who have given me a bed to sleep in and washed my laundry (oh how I love the smell of clean clothes!) and let me call home from their phone (my first time talking to my parents in 7 weeks). They've also brought me all around Pamplona to see historic areas, and they've taught me a lot about the whole Sanfermines event. Yesterday morning I got to watch the Encierro (the running with the bulls) from a balcony, which normally people have to pay a lot to do. In the afternoon, my hosts brought me to their Sociedad Gastronomica (a cooking club) where they made excellent steaks and salads and roasted red peppers. While we ate and talked, the men would spontaneously burst into song, singing traditional tunes of Navarra (the region where Pamplona is located) or old classic tunes like Old Man River. They asked me to sing a traditional tune from North Carolina, but sadly I couldn´t think of anything except James Taylor´s Carolina In My Mind. The Navarran culture is rather like the Scottish and Irish in a way, with very strong feelings for their history and independence, and a love of music and traditional dancing.

Last night Spain won the World Cup over the Netherlands. It was an interesting feeling to be in an area where a lot of people really consider themselves Navarran rather than Spanish. There are a lot of Basque people here, and many of them actually wanted Spain to lose. So though there was some cheering and honking horns here, it was not at all like the previous game when I was in Granada. After the game we met up with some of my hosts' friends. When she asked me 'Que tal?' I responded 'España ganó!' (Spain won!) and she kind of made a face and shrugged her shoulders like, 'Yeah, too bad.' Things are rather complicated here in Pamplona.

Tonight I'm taking a train to Paris so I can be there for Bastille Day! Tomorrow I get to reunite with my French exchange student from 10 years ago. Last time I saw her I was 15 years old.

Greetings to everyone! I'm sure your prayers have been with me, because I've been unbelievably blessed on this trip!

-Valerie