Burn Baby Burn

After deciding to sleep in so that I could catch up on some needed sleep, I lazily got up and ate breakfast (peach yogurt and pistachios).  I got dressed and headed to the beach for a quick tan J (I am gonna miss walking 3 minutes to the beach everyday J)…I laid out only for 45 mins because it was super hot and that sun was brutal.  Like most times I didn’t go in the water because I didn’t want to have sand stuck to all of my skin.  When I got back home, I had a small lunch (PB&J) and read a little more in my book.  Most of the gang had gone out to the Island of Tobarca…I opted out because I have snorkeled enough in my life and a 50 minute boat ride both ways did not seem pleasant.  They said it was pretty nice and, like me, they had been at the beach all day (that’s really all there is to do there).  Before they got back, I took a long siesta by watching some American TV shows from way in the past which was funny to look back on and snoozed on the couch for about 2 hours.  It was super nice to just relax and take a break from the heat and rush of the weekend plus I knew it was going to be a long night and into the morning…which it was J…

I decided to get a shower and get dressed…I opted in a tank top and skirt with flip flops since I was probably going to be on the beach at some point.  I waited for Sam to get ready by reading my book (The Girl who Plays with Fire!!!!!!...it gets amazingly good after chapter 11 and I’m super addicted that I have read a majority of the book in the last 3 days and am super sad that I didn’t bring the next one in the series—The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest—so I am trying to span it out…and failing J)…then, once she was ready we headed out to grab dinner…I was super bad and my dinner was churros that you can dip in chocolate.  I had been craving them.  To my disappointment, they weren’t as good as I had imagined so I didn’t eat “as many.” Hahaha…Then we walked back so that Sam could grab dinner at the Italian place (I know right Italian in Spain is kind of an oxymoron, but to her defense they have great food).  She got the black ricotta-filled ravioli with an olive oil, onion, and sun-dried tomato sauce.  I tried some and it was pretty good.  We each got a glass of wine that was pretty strong because we were feeling it within the half hour it took us to walk back and put the leftovers in the fridge.  Along the way I bought an outfit for 7 euros…pretty good deal if you ask me.  It is a one piece jumpsuit that is sleeveless.  It is multi-colored with emphasizes in blues and brown hues.  The pants are puffy Aladdin style so I was pretty excited hahaha J

Once home we took a little break before heading out to the Beach Bar to get a drink and wait for the Fugeras to start burning.  We met up with some friends from the other trips and different schools and headed down the beach to watch fireworks from the castle.  Once the fireworks had gone off we booked it to the first Fugeras to burn.

When they burn they just don’t catch on fire.  The process starts with them dowsing the statues in gasoline that smells pretty strong.  Then, they make the crowd back up because they light the end of a rope.  As the fire moves up the side of the ropes fire crackers go off which trigger fire works and then the final piece is the statue catching on fire.  Once the statue is on fire, it takes to the flames like crazy and the fire crews standing along the sides dowse the statue with water.  The combination of fire and water makes a dark smoky cloud and debris goes flying.  After watching the first, I understood why you stand back so far.  In the main square the women’s head was the first to be burned and it looked like a smoking volcano.  The women’s face fell in a slow melting motion and then the whole think became engulfed in flames.  It was crazy to realize that the flames were so high and the space so small and packed with people.  Several people were taken to the hospital with some burns.  The crowd started yelling things at the firefighters that were rather unpleasant in order to be sprayed with the hoses because the heat from the fires were so strong.  The firefighters appeased the crowd and fireworks went off.

After about 2am when the last of the figures were burned (they started at midnight), we met up with everyone again and headed out for a night on the town which consisted of grabbing some drinks and just hanging out.  It seemed that once the figures were burned and people were sopping wet that they all went home opposed to every other night.  So, we called it a night and I headed home to crawl in bed and sleep!

The wind blew a dark cloud of smoke around the city.  All the figures that burned left the sitting looking like it had been set on fire (which it had in some way) and left to burn.  In the Mercado, the Fugeras really did catch the building on fire and some people’s curtains were melted away before the firefighters took out the flames.  All in all it was a very neat experience and one for the books.  Tomorrow will be a day of resting and relaxation…Happy Independence Day Spain!