A couple days ago we went to Canals, which is a small pueblo (town) that had their Saint's Day. A huge pile of pine branches and needles is constructed in the center of the plaza and is burned. Hundreds of people were there and I was so squished it was hard to move my arms. You just got carried away with the crowd and came home smelling like fire and red in the face from all the heat.
Classes started yesterday, so I've been constantly walking back and forth for the past two days. I live about 45 minutes (walking) from the university. At the university I get sit through:
Historia del Arte (Art History)
Cultura (Culture of Valencia and España)
Lengua (Language- to help with grammar)
Literatura (Literature- all about the Don Quixote here)
Cine (Movies- One every week)
So far they all seem alright. I'm diving head first into Don Quixote. The dude's nuts and kind of reminds me of myself when I was younger, which is probably why the book is so famous: it reminds all of us what it was like to believe in something that was fiction so much that it drove us to dress up and act like what we just read.
I'm still finding my way around the city and got lost for the first time yesterday. Note to self: Never take the Metro again. It isn't good for you. All in all, things are going pretty great. I'm presented to my falla tomorrow. When I have a bit more time I'll explain what that is. In short it's a group of people that really like fire.
Wow - I bet all those burning pine needles smelled terrific!
ReplyDeleteWhat about burning embers floating up, and then down, and catching something on fire - or is everything in the plaza so old, that it is all stone and brick with tile roofs? ...and no thatch roofs?
Sounds like a nice walk to school...don't know if I want to know what happened on the metro!!
Love you, and keep it up.
Mom