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Published: October 4th 2007
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Well after Scotland I headed to Stansted airport by London where I met my old roommate from The White Hart (Karla). We had a wonderful night sleeping on the floor. At first we thought we would just nap in the corner but when people were pulling out mats and sleeping bags we curled up the same and went to sleep. It was not long or comfortable but it was free and convenient for our early flight.
Off to Spain once again, Valencia this time. We hopped on the bus and to the campsite we went. Picked up our free t-shirts and found our home for the next few days. Tent number 51 I think, out of about 300 possibly. People everywhere. We headed to the beach just down the road where we saw enough naked old wrinkly men to last us a life time. It wasn't a nude beach but the old guys had no problem with it. Never the young men and women who wouldn't look so bad...
Dinner at the campsite and then back to the beach for a party.
The next day more of the same, old men and sunshine. Then into Valencia for a walking
tour and a night out. Karla and I bailed early and went back to camp as the night club they chose was so small that there was no way that everyone from camp could get in - and the hostel and hotel people were to be there as well. So we did our own walking tour of the city and went to camp.
The big day! Up early and dressed in our worst clothes, we got on the bus and headed to Bunol for La Tomatina. There were so many people; but we got there early and got a great spot right in the square. After waiting for ages people finally came out with the tall pole and greased it up with globs of what looked like pig lard - looked really disgusting. Then the ham was tied on and up it went. People (guys for the most part) then took turns trying to get up the pole to get the ham. The object is to get it down so the throwing can start. It took hours. There was no such thing as team work. One guy would get high and some jerk would pull him down. One guy
from the campsite passed us and told us to stay away as it was dangerous - he said this through bloody teeth. One guy got so close and we all cheered and some other guy ripped him down - he definitely got booed. Finally someone got close and the trucks started coming down the street. It was a slow process with that many people jammed into a small narrow square. When the trucks got to us we were covered with tomatoes being tossed from the back and then we grabbed them and threw them around more. Picking them up off the street and lobbing them at random strangers. Tomatoes everywhere. The Fanatics (the tour group I went with) gave us swim caps and it was a good thing I wore it. Disgusting! The girls were told to wear tight fitting clothes or sports bras because when the locals got bored they started tearing off t-shirts. We were also warned to be careful and not get caught amongst a bunch of them alone. Well after getting completely covered I lost Karla and started to make my way to the square where we all were going to meet. I all of a
sudden found myself surrounded by a group of young Spanish guys and thought I should get away. As I was backing up two girls walked through and started to fight with these guys. Pushing and yelling, not good. I put my hands up and tried to back away but with that many people I didn't move at all. One of the guys then grabbed my hand and punched one of the girls in the face with it - I was so surprized my reflexes kicked in and I punched him right back in the mouth. Thought I was done for but I managed to escape their attention.
***Side note*** About 10 days later I was in Brussels and telling this story to a girl I was sharing a room with as she was also there and we were comparing craziness, when I finished she said, that was me you hit in the face. How crazy is that. ******
People were spraying us with hoses so at one point I would be clean to walk a few more feet and get into it again and no longer be clean. I finally made it to the square - without people
a three minute walk, with all the people it took at least a half hour. Found some dirty water and washed myself off and was good to go. We sat around in the sun for awhile laughing about how crazy the whole thing really is. People were having 'showers' around the square. Someone would put shampoo and soap outside their door and people would lather up and then the person would spray them all off with garden hoses. I left all my clothes behind in Bunol, including my shoes. There was no way I was ever going to be able to actually get them clean. I did wear the most worn out things in my backpack so wasn't too sad to see them go. On the bus back to camp I think I fell asleep before we started to move.
That night after a nap and a few showers we had dinner and a dance off to say goodbye. The dancing was...interesting to say the least. One of the staff from the Fanatics did a strip show...unpleastant really.
Up in the morning to pack the bags and head to...I had no plan except to go to the bus station
with Karla and get on a bus to somewhere else. Who plans? Clearly not me.
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