Hotel Mendebaldea Pamplona

... and camembert cheese and a bottle of Diet Coke with Cappuccino flavouring..weird sounding I know but it was a cross between vanilla and slight coffee flavor and pretty good! We bought some more what we think is cordial "Syrup sans sucre " in Forrest Berry flavour and had a wander down to the beach lane shops. I bought a silver necklace for $7 Euro as I was keen to start wearing my cartouche and scarab beetle and we ran to the bus for pickup. I put on my necklace ...

... Sometimes the America talk gets exhausting...

Since being here, I´ve had to tell so many people that I am from the United States. With each repetition, I am hearing myself say the words and wondering more and more about their implications. i´ve only met one other American here, and I am becoming more concerned with my identity as an American. I think I have always felt somewhat disociated from the nation... for various reasons... it is so big, i am so ...

... missed at Puenta la Reina the night before, as I had opted to stay only about 2 miles away with George. It was Puenta´s running of the bulls and town festival, very boozy and very Spanish, complete with fireworks, red bandanas and packed streets. They even ended up meeting the mayor of the town, who brought them up to their apartment and gave them some drinks... he even called the refugio tot ell them to keep it open late for them!! Apparently it was a rather alte night (versus ...

... headed off.

I spent about half of the day walking with George, at a very slow pace. I felt so bad for him, he seemed to be in so much pain. We took a memorable break on the side of a path with an amazing sweeping view of fields that, eventually, ran into craggy mountains. We talked candidly, as I find myself doing often on this trip. it seems most people have found themselves here out of some desire to change, question or cope with something about ...

... doll representing an African king).

After about a half an hour, we had our fill of the giant dolls and set off to find some shade and a place to sit. As we entered the main town square, the sight was almost comical: every inch of shade was occupied by someone (in the grass under trees, under awnings, even under benches!).

We finally found three chairs under an awning and decided to stay for a while and people watch. A while turned into 4 ...

... I don´t understand in Spanish. I think she is just really lonely and wants someone to talk too. Poor granny!!


Bull Run: The running is a really big deal here. All the balconies are filled with people, police, EMT´s everywhere, and cameras rigged on high-wires to catch the drama unfold. The way the Running of the Bulls works is, they have 12 bulls in a pen on one end of the stretch and then at 8 am they open the door and let off a firework ...

... moved to Pamplona (18 years ago) and now have a daughter Aine (11), and last year adopted a Brazilian boy, Gibrair (10). Vivian was also married in Argentina and migrated to Spain when her son Ennio (now 10) was a baby. A few years ago she divorced her husband and is now married to Sebastián and now they have a son, Orión (1). Vivian, Sebastián, Ennio, Orión, Marcelo and Aine went to the bus station to meet me, but the first four left after about 10 minutes and the remaining ...

... heading off to more festivities. We heard of a Wailers (i.e. Bob Marley and the Wailers) concert that was being held near a carnival area. We meandered out way over, had some fun at the carnival, and found our way to the front of the concert area. The concert had such great spirits with it and was a lot of fun with a collaboration of people from all over. The "replacement" Bob Marley was great as well...one guy around me didn't even know Bob Marley was black...what?? The ...

... bronks, mais qui etait prof de 6 annee dans un middle school. donc on est parti a laventure dans ce chaos generaliser de plaisirs et dalchool bien sur. javais pas manger faque on est arreter prendre 2,1 litro de cerveja et un sandwich . cest fous comment il y a des gens saoul labas cest juste trop fou, les bars sont plein a craquer de la musique latine, techno et du rnb jouais un peu partout. le drink par excellance labas cetait du vin avec du coca ...

... and scanned to my left, I counted 15 toddlers and if I could have pulled a Lisa Blair, I know there were some behind me. It is also very strange, in mid afternoon Pamplona is a ghost town. You would be hard pressed to find someone walking around and then BLAM they come out in droves. Must be the siesta. I won`t even go into my boy story of the day in great length, but I can tell you the French do not know what the "play it cool rule" is. You know the one where a girl gives ...