One of questions I’m asked most frequently about the many years I lived in Spain is whether I ever made it to see a bull fight. No, I did not, and neither have most of my Spanish friends, however, every morning from July 1st to the 7th, the TV had to be on to watch the bulls running through the streets of Pamplona, in preparation for the week’s festivities. It’s an amazing site which takes place just after dawn, with large numbers of men, young and old, running through the streets, closely followed by the horned bovine mob. Yes, there are ambulances on the side streets, waiting to whisk anyone who is pierced in the leg (or, ouch, elsewhere) to a hospital. And, perhaps you won’t be surprised to learn that most of the people hurt every year are: a) drunk and b) foreigners. The secret to not getting hurt, a friend explained to me many years ago, is to not try to run for very long in front of the bulls; the Spaniards know that they should only run for just a few seconds, and then dodge out of the way, while the foreigners, predominantly British, Germans and Americans who have been up partying all night, try to run the entire track through the city in front of the cows, and thus, unfortunately, every year there are those who have more than just good memories to show for their fun times in Spain.
But back to Pamplona: there is a song which every Spaniard learns as a small child, which I taught my students in Spanish class, and which is the theme song for one of Spain’s most famous fiestas: San Fermin . It’s a great way to learn the first seven months of the year and their corresponding numbers, and it commemorates the fact that the fiestas of Pamplona, are the first seven days of July. It goes:
Uno de enero,
dos de febrero,
tres de marzo, cuatro de abril.cinco de mayo, seis de junio,
siete de julio, San Fermin.
Bilbao, a larger city
which some of my characters explore, lies hugging the coast, just east of
Santander. Since most of its residents are on vacation in August, the city
pretty much empties out, and it’s a wonderful time to be there, sipping a glass
of Rioja wine at an outdoor terrace. But in mid-August the
fiestas begin, and you can hear the drums beating, smell the lovely foods
cooking and see the bright flags all over the city. I especially love to watch
the regional Basque dancing which is centuries old and not at all related to
the flamenco dancing that we usually attribute to Spain. The
men, wearing white pants and a white shirt, a red sash
across their waist, and a red scarf around their necks, perform
complicated jumps while knocking long sticks together to the
beat of the music. The women wear black, longish skirts and white shirts,
and they often dance forming large circles which spin in one direction for
a few steps, and then turn the other way, while the dancers hold their arms
aloft and perform complicated patterns with their feet.
So off you go, have
fun at the fiestas and if you have too much to drink, please don’t try to run
in front of the bulls!!
Link to You tube San Fermin song song:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzvL1cVYLH4
Links to typical Basque
dancing. First some women:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3xkU0LTN-s Then
some men with small sticks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJNI_0vPKxU Followed
by some nice dancing with archeshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QksZJQH4bS4
Image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chupinazo8.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment