Fallas.

I've failed at writing a blog about Fallas. Honestly, I'm not really sure what to say about it. It was an incredible experience, and I was really happy that I got to experience it. It really is a one of a kind celebration--where else do they build giant sculptures in the street and then burn them all at the same time? Where there are AMAZING fireworks shows every night--plus fireworks during the day? Where else do they put up tons of Churros y chocolate stands all over the city that are open 24/7 so everyone can get their fried dough and chocolate whenever they want it?

It was amazing, wonderful, terrific, exhausting, fantastic, filled with laughs, filled with walking, and overall happiness. My body definitely lacked on sleep that week. The fireworks shows wouldn't start until 1am--and then after that I would go out with friends. The one night I didn't go out with friends, I still didn't get home until after 2 because there were so many people in the street.

My favorite day of Fallas was Wednesday. It was a bit of a double celebration for us Americans, since it was St. Patty's Day. I have Irish roots somewhere--so I sported my green with pride!! In the morning, Marli and I walked around in the neighborhood behind our house. It's not known for outrageously expensive and elaborate fallas, but since it's our neighborhood we wanted to check it out. That was a lot of fun because even the simple fallas are really neat. Then we grabbed some buñuelos (pumpkin dough fried) and chocolate (pronounced the Spanish way choc-o-la-te--which is just really really thick hot cocoa). We met up with Nikki and headed down to the mascleta. The mascleta was pretty awesome that day. From there we headed to an Irish bar and celebrated being Irish and rested a bit. Then we went to the area between Plaza de la Reina and Plaza de la Virgen. Wednesday was the beginning of the official Ofrenda, when all the falleras from all the neighborhoods (barrios) bring flowers as a offering to the Virgen de los Desamparados. We got a really good seat along their path. We ate our picnic as we waited for it to begin. The band from each barrio would enter followed by the falleras and falleros. A lot of the older falleras were crying. It was an awesome experience to watch. Then we checked out Plaza de la Virgen-which is where they left their flowers and the helpers started placing them on the giant structure of the Virgen. (I write Virgin the Spanish way, which is Virgen...forgive me if you get confused). We stopped and grabbed some coffee and tea as a quick warm up--since it was a little chilly out. Then Nikki went home, and Marli and I went to explore more Fallas. That was when I discovered two of my fave fallas. The first was Na Jordana--a neighborhood right by the río. We paid a euro in order to enter the area directly surrounding the fallas--plus got to go through a little tunnel in the falla. I took a lot of pics. Then we decided to head to Campanar, which had the tallest falla ever created. It was HUGE!!. We weren't able to get too close--you had to pay 6 euros to get close to it--so we just took photos from outside the fence. It was really beautiful. Then we hopped on the metro to go home (otherwise it would have been another 90 minutes of walking). We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant under our building, which was delicious. Then we headed out for the night. We met up with Nikki, Allison, Jenna, Megan, and some other friends. The fireworks that night were the best I've ever seen--and my favorite fireworks show during Fallas. They had these strange "jellyfish" like fireworks, which moved up and down like a jellyfish. We ended up walking around after the fireworks and eventually were able to get into a neighborhood tent. Along with each falla, each neighborhood has a tent where they can all get together and celebrate fallas. Somehow, the people decided to let us in, so we danced the night away with a bunch of falleras and falleros. It was a great way to end the day.

I could write so much more about Fallas...but I can't at the same time. It's something that you need to experience. It's crazy, and there are tons of people--but it's a lot of fun. Going back to school this week was a bit of a challenge after a week of break. Luckily we have this week, then 2 weeks off for Easter. After our 2 week Easter break, it will be even harder to go back to class. All for now.