Friday, March whatever. I think the 18th

So imagine TPTB planned a party and they told ASU “Tempe is all yours” and they made all the booze you could handle available and they had all kinds of fireworks – crackers, cherry bombs, sparkly thingies that flew around, then spun on the ground, then flew around, rockets that shot into the air, you name it – also available.  And then they also invited UCLA and whatever other 5 or 6 big party schools you want to throw in.  And then they stepped back.

That was Las Fallas, Day 4.  We went down at night because we heard there was a pretty bitchen fireworks display.  And we landed in the middle of party central.  Still pretty cool.  People still pretty well behaved, though as the evening progressed and the boys got drunker, some  thought it would be a hoot to aim those sparkly thingies into a crowd and watch people dive out of the way, us included at one point (we did) and laugh and laugh.  And you had to watch where you were going so you didn’t inadvertently get in the path of a firecracker, though most people were also careful to get an open area to set them off in.

Oh, and the fireworks were indeed bitchen.  Huge aerial displays, continuous as a “finale” in the states for about 25 minutes.  And THEN there was still a “finale”.  We just read the schedule wrong (okay, we didn’t read it at all) and instead of starting at midnight, like we thought, it started at 1:30am or so.  But worth the wait for sure.

And parades again!  Every time you turn around, there’s another parade.  Same thing:  women dressed in beautiful traditional garb, just walking in rows of 4 or 5, some with baby carriages, some holding their babies in their arms, followed by the men, walking along, with small bands interspersed.  When you want to get across a plaza, it is akin to watching a freight train cross, though they are breaks in the action where you can run across the road, as we’ve done.

And the bus drivers in Spain are as smart as the bus drivers in America:  there’s a work action going on, so it took close to 45 minutes from the usual 10-12 minutes to catch a bus downtown and we ultimately had to flag a cab to get back.  That also took about 45 minutes, though to be fair it WAS 3:15am when we started flagging. 

So tonight’s the big night.  Everything burns down.  There is a little burning at 10pm – the small children’s Ninots (finally found out what the displays are called – “Puppets”), then the winner of the children’s Ninots, then the winner of the “special” category (no, I don’t know what that means either) and finally at midnight, everything else. 

So I’m nursing a cold.  I’m upright and feeling okay and energetic, though my chest is muy congested.  Better than yesterday, though.  Not coughing as much and it doesn’t hurt to cough as much.  I’ve got about 5 days of off and on touring to do and I’m gonna do it, if Gene has to drag me on the plane in a body bag!!

Also:  due to a small Densa-type mishap, I’ve broken my computer.  Alas and alack.  The monitor is gone.  Alas and alack.  Gene promises to share, and he takes enough naps that I’ll get my time and the blog will continue.  But criminy, ever do something that results in you’re wishing you could take the last 5 seconds back?  There ya go.
 

Hasta luego from Espana for now!  Still planning on photos manana ou lundi (no wait, that’s French)

PS:  I wrote this in my hotel room, about 3 miles as the crow flies from the action.  At precisely 2pm, the main “Macleta”, aka “sound display” aka the best coorindated firecracker set-off EVAH went off.  This was the one where we hit human gridlock ¼ block away and could just listen.  Well when I said I probably could be in my hotel room and hear it, I was kidding.  That display was incredibly loud, all the way over here.  And it lasted about 15-20 minutes.  All firecrackers, all in a rhythmic pattern. 

One of the local stations is running continuous live coverage, I believe.  And I think there’s a DVD you can buy.  I will have to invest in that one.  You see so much, you miss so much.  Wow.  Just Wow.