Running of the Bulls

(I wrote this 3 days ago)

Today we woke up at the crack of dawn to go to Chinchón to see a mini running of the bulls. It was awesome!!! The big running of the bulls takes place in Pamplona and is a huge deal. People party beforehand and party for like 10 days straight afterwards. And when I say straight I literally mean 24/7. They do NOT sleep. The Spanish take their festivals and traditions very seriously. And they LOVE to party. On the first day of the festival (July 6) there is a huge celebration in Pamplona and during my morning class on that day we actually took a break and all went downstairs to watch the opening ceremony on the tv. There was literally a SEA of people. They have a bull run (encierro) every morning from July 7 to July 14. It attracts one million people each year!

The running in Chinchón isn’t as big of a deal as the one in Pamplona but it’s the same thing. Today was a holiday and everyone was off from work/school so it was still crazy. Chinchón is a cute little town, pretty much what you might think of as the stereotypical Spanish town. You know, white buildings with the red and brown roofs, Spanish flags everywhere, built on a hill, etc. The bus ride was beautiful to get there, right through the Spanish hills and countryside. I’m assuming they had partied all night (or at least from 6am, which is the tradition in Pamplona) because the town bars were all overflowing when we got there (around 8:45am). We got a decent spot to see the running, and it ended up being a point where the men would run into for safety just in case. We were near the end of the run where it meets the plaza. A rocket goes off to mark the beginning of the festival and another goes off to mark the release of the bulls. They were pretty loud and I always jumped when they went off!

The runners wear all white and wear red handkerchiefs around their necks. The runners today weren’t wearing that though. Each run took maybe 5 minutes each, since this town is fairly small. We were surprised that the street for the run was uphill and made of old cobblestone. It seemed really hard to get good traction! The main plaza of the town was transformed into the bull ring. After the bulls do the run through the town, they run into the ring where a mini bull fight takes place. I guess it’s not really a bull fight, it’s more like a ‘training session’ for the young men of the town. Well it’s more like a taunting session. A taunting of the bull. They just make them run around and get really tired. You almost feel bad for them. Someone told us that they kill them later in the afternoon. The run took maybe 10 minutes and the taunting was about an hour. We explored the town a little bit afterwards. Although everything seems dangerous to us, and yes the running is, the Spanish are raised with this. When we were walking through the streets after it ended, there was a group of little boys playing in the street running past us. It was like a game of tag, but the boy who was “it” had a pair of bull horns in his hands and was chasing the other little boys with them. The boys who were running even ran into the safety of the bars like the real men did in the actual running. These kids were so cute! The boys here are trained to do all these dangerous things with bulls right from the start. It’s natural to them even though it may seem so foreign to us.

My teacher ran today and guided the students in my class that wanted to run too. She’s so cute, her name is Elsa (Elsita). The whole thing was very exciting. Even though it wasn’t the main one in Pamplona, it was still so worth it. I think it was even better because Pamplona is so crowded that it gets out of control. Overall this was one of my favorite experiences here! Cross this off my life list!! :D

(PS- No one was hurt that I know of. There was one close call when one of the guys couldn’t jump over the wall quick enough and the bull was getting at his feet, but he was fine.)

This is the video I made of it!! 

Okay, I don't know how to make it bigger, so if you want to see it larger just click HERE