Aug 26th, 2013. Let’s get to Spain.
I’m 21, but age is just a number.
You know what else is just a number? Time. Unfortunately, I spent several days
organizing time so that all the hours and transport would coordinate and I
would end up in the correct foreign city at the end of the day on August 27th.
Well, that was a waste of time. Pun intended. The transportation to Spain involved
several exchanges to get to the city where me, Gifton, and Ashlyn are studying
for the semester. Additionally, we had bought train tickets for the night we
arrived to go to a different city, Valencia, for 3 days before our official TCU
orientation on Friday. I was traveling alone to Madrid, where we all planned to
meet up for the last flight, the free afternoon, and the train to Valencia.
Bascially, I got from KC to Dallas and then had a major mechanical difficulty
that caused a 4-5 hour delay in our departure. So I had to catch a different
connection from Madrid to Sevilla, which was also delayed. In Sevilla, I had
planned to drop off luggage at our hotel for storage before catching the train
to Valencia. However, I landed in Sevilla about half an hour before the train
left. Thankfully, the train station is close and I made it there with all my
luggage and a couple minutes to spare. I was without wifi or cell service most
of the trip so I was just praying that Ashlyn and Gifton were on the train when
I boarded. I experienced one of the most intense moments of relief I’ve ever
felt when I climbed into the train car and saw Ashlyn’s very surprised face. We
group hugged and sat down and all of a sudden everything was fine and great and
we were on our way. It really couldn’t have worked out better. I don’t like
waiting too much so I got all of that out of the way in Dallas. The best part
is that on the way to the airport in KC with my mom I said, “I kind of hope
everything doesn’t go well. Not anything really terrible, but just not really
right. It’s more memorable.” So, check that off the list. I felt so engaged and
wired the whole time, trying not to get lost or miss departures, but I don’t
think I was freaking out too bad because it was either going to work out or it
wasn’t. And so far, it has. Like I said, time is just a number.
(somewhere in there. . . Aug 27th, 2013. Day one
of study abroad. Flyin solo. )
The train was about 4 hours to
Valencia and then we had to find the hostel. The tourism office at the station
was closed for the night and literally no one there had a map. We stole some
McDonalds wifi and took screenshots of a route. Not going to lie, walking over
a mile to this unknown place at 11 at night put us a little on edge. Plus we
had all my luggage. But we found it! Pretty much everyone there was going to La
Tomatina, which is the whole reason we came to Valencia. Let me give some
context. In 8th grade, my Spanish teacher was having a class about culture
and Spanish festivals. One of them was La Tomatina, which is a giant street
tomato fight attended by thousands. I thought, “Well that’s the coolest thing
I’ve ever heard of. I’m definitely going to that.” So when I realized that our
arrival date to Spain was 2 days after the festival, we booked planes to come
early and make our way to Valencia.
I’ve adopted a philosophy for world
travel. Basically, you will never have it fully planned out (and why would you
want to?) so it comes down to three tenets (which I reserve the right to
amend). 1. Try to be in the right place at the right time. 2. Say yes. 3. Don’t
be a dumb. This is my theory on how to have a great time and still not end up
on the news. So we’re in the hostel around midnight and realize from talking to
others that we need tickets to Tomatina. We had read that on a website a few
months ago but assumed it was a scam and disregarded it (mistake). So by 2am we
are walking to a bar a few streets away (with our friendly, experienced,
Australian escort from the hostel) to pick up our wristbands. By 3 we are ready
for bed in the room full of bunkbeds with our new Japanese friends and at 5:30
am we are on our way to the pickup spot for transportation included in the
ticket.
Aug 28th. LA TOMATINA. Making my 8th
grade self proud.
There were hundreds flocking to this
plaza early in the morning. In Bunol, the small city where Tomatina is held, we
got off the bus and joined a crowd of thousands being herded through the maze
of streets into the town. It kind of made me feel trapped because the streets
are lined completely with tall buildings and security was at the entrances. Once
in position, we watched brave people try to get the ham. This is part of the
tradition. A ham is hung at the top of a wooden pole about 1 foot diameter and
covered in a thick, visible layer of grease. People are just relentless about
getting to the top. It was pretty barbaric, really. People are just climbing on
top of each other, stepping on anything to get up a little bit further. They
could have benefited from some leadership and some cheerleaders I think. A few
tried going up Mulan-style with their T-shirts but ultimately the grease was
the champion. My parents put vasoline on the pole stand that holds their
birdfeeder so that squirrels can’t reach it. They climb up a ways and then
slide right back down. The ham pole reminded me a lot of that, but picture it
with like 7-9 squirrels hanging on each other.
What I am now going to describe
sounds horrible, but I promise overall the event was incredibly fun in all the
most ridiculous ways and I am 100% ecstatic that we were there. First of all,
it was extremely cloudy and chilly, which was never the case in any of my
Tomatina daydreams. It would have been okay for the most part except that all
the residents that live above ground level on this street were pouring buckets
of cold water down into the crowd. Or spraying or dripping or whatever they
felt, because again, we were stuck. It was frigid and so frustrating, but all
in good fun. Lots of spontaneous chanting and dancing broke out, the pole
situation in the background, and everyone huddling together to stay warm and
try to dodge the waterfalls. As several of you probably know, I really hate
being cold. But adrenaline and spirits were high and this was once in a
lifetime! THEN it started raining. Very cold, persistent rain. Also not what I
pictured, and also very, very cold. FINALLY we hear some drums and realize the
tomato trucks are coming. Unless someone gets the ham, the tomatos start at 11
with a gunshot and end at noon with the same. A series of 6 trucks come by,
with event staff clearing the streets ahead of them. Remember, these streets
are already packed, so we are then shoved onto a sidewalk several feet wide for
these huge trucks to pass, basically vertically spooning with strangers on all
sides. Guys standing in the big dump truck throw armfuls of tomatoes over the
edge and it is immediate chaos.
I’m not sure how to describe the
next hour of my life, but the most prominent sense was the smell. It was
putrid, right from the start, which I did not expect. I was inhibiting my gag
reflex for most of that day. However, it didn’t seem like the tomatoes were
rotten because if a whole one hits you, honestly it can hurt. So basically
tomatoes and tomato mush are raining down on us and as soon as the truck passes
we all flood the street and have tomato war, every man for himself. There was
no order at all and most of the scene was blurry because of the tomato all over
my organic chemistry lab goggles and seeping into my eyeballs. It was
fantastic. There was definite retaliation from the street by throwing tomatoes
up at the balconies of our cold water torturers. That goes on for a while and
then we have to go back to the sidewalk for the next truck. And so it goes. Loud
madness. The street gradually accumulated an ankle deep layer of mush that
unfortunately saturated our shoes. If any of you go, wear nothing you would
like to keep.
When the trucks were passed, tomato
was everywhere on our bodies and up all the walls, which shop-owners had covered
in tarps earlier in the morning. Then we pretty much had one goal: shower.
There were very cold hoses available on the way out to rinse off, which we did
some of. A very cold march out of the maze, and then back to the bus. Some
people stayed around to party afterward, but I couldn’t stand my own stench or
the temperature. When we were dropped off back in Valencia, we had to walk
about 10 minutes back to the hostel and people passing us on the street
literally had their noses plugged. Almost everyone at the hostel was at
Tomatina so the showers were a red, tomato mess. We got clean but continued to
find tomato in our hair for a couple days. Then we smiled at the super
ridiculous thing that just happened to us and fell asleep for a long time.
Around 6pm we woke up and headed out for dinner with our friend Mojito from
Brazil. It was still raining but we found some tasty paella (typical dish) and
eventually made it out to a Tomatina afterparty. The venue was playing pretty
much exclusively techno versions of American songs and it was an energetic,
crazy atmosphere of all the veterans from the morning. A great evening but we
hadn’t really slept since leaving America and went home very early in relation
to the norm and fell asleep immediately.
 |
| Beforehand, with our hostel friend Mojito! |
 |
| in the middle of the action |
Aug 29th, 2013. Recovery day.
Our
roommates left all at different times throughout the morning, which made
sleeping a struggle, but such is the hostel life. I think we finally got up
around 2pm and the room was empty. We made an attempt at 10am, but it was raining and
we were dead and returning to bed seemed like the only logical choice. At 2 it
had stopped raining so we figured out a bus route to a beach nearby, called
Malvarrosa, and spent the afternoon there. It was extremely pleasant, while
still not that sunny. We saw some incredible sand structures on the beach and
chatted/people-watched all afternoon at an outdoor park/exercise site. We stuck
around the boardwalk for dinner and had our first go at tapas, which is a
common type of dinner experience where you order a few dishes for the table and
all share. We tried seabass, lamb, and a pasta, which were all great choices. We also had excellent sangria.Then
more sleeping. I should probably add that we did not get lost once. J
Aug 30th, 2013. Back to a schedule
This
morning we overslept but still caught our train back to Sevilla. It was a bit
of a struggle though because Tomatina left us wounded. Ashlyn and I contracted either bites or a rash from the tomatoes or the bunkbeds, I'm not sure. My foot suffered some
unknown trauma that is still bothersome, and Ashlyn bruised her foot walking in
the rain on very slippery tile sidewalks. That was mostly okay, but now I have
to remind you that I have all my luggage with me. This was first a blessing because
it was a lot colder than I was prepared for with my Tomatina backpack, but
somewhere in the mile or so journey to the hostel, one wheel on my largest
suitcase was compromised (broke completely off). Luckily, I remembered that the
suitcase has secret backpack straps on the bottom. My mom pointed them out
right before I left but I laughed because I was in no scenario about to carry
that thing on my back. . . until right now, at which point it became my only
option. So here we go, carrying this massive thing and two of us limping, back
to the train station because we don’t want to spend euros on a cab. 4 hours
later in Sevilla, where it is sunny and steaming hot, we have another ¾ mile
walk from the bus stop to the hotel. Thank you Gifton for carrying the dang
suitcase for this part. I’m only explaining this to you so that I can tell you
that we later learned about a bus route that would have dropped us off right at
the hotel. We’re not longer hard-core travelers, just oblivious tourists who need
to study to bus maps. It is comical in retrospect. Also, turns out cabs are pretty
cheap. Next time.
The
hotel shower was hot and glorious and we just relaxed and rested there all
afternoon, waiting to hear from Mary Alice, the liaison for TCU study abroad
students. Our official orientation was to begin Friday evening.
I won’t
go into so much detail for every trip, but this was the first one, it was
awesome, and it was a bucket list item of mine so I thought it deserved some
attention. I would recommend to anyone to go to Tomatina, though I will
personally never be going back. If you’ve now made it to the end, kudos, and I
hope you already feel inspired to visit Spain!
More to come, very soon!
Jenna
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