HI guys!  I finally inserted the video/pictures links.  Everything should open up in a different window except for the Wikipedia pages near the end.

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Holy moly what a crazy week this has been!!

Fallas in a nutshell: Valencians build stuff and then burn it down. At first this sounded utterly bizarre to me, but upon living in Spain for nearly two months now, I understand that it is so much more than that.

First let me explain the word Fallas. In Spanish, the verb “fallar” means to fail. It obviously is not a direct translation, though, because then Fallas would be the verb he/she/you fail or the noun flaws/defects/failings. From this play on words comes the common phrase “Con Las Fallas no se falla” or something like that meaning that with Fallas you can never go wrong/fail. What Fallas actually translates to in Spain is two things: the actual monument is called a falla and the team that builds it is also called a falla.

Monument? What? All year long there are teams of “falleros” or people who work on the fallas, that design and build huge monuments that tend to look like animated figures. Each neighborhood has a falla and contributes money to its building. I am not sure how the money comes into it because I definitely didn’t donate anything, but apparently the richest barrios tend to win. These monuments usually have a wooden base/structure and are then surrounded with plastic or papier-mâché and then painted. Most have themes. The most popular theme is politics… not just Spanish politics but world politics and the US is definitely involved in that.

To see some faller@s walking down the street, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGwt4iQw_hQ

Fallas officially started the first of March. Everyday there is a mascletà at 14:00. A mascletà is basically a fireworks show, although it is more based around sound then on… the show part. Spaniards like it LOUD… really loud… so loud you can feel the ground move and your body vibrate. Some people go to plug their ears but you almost always hear someone say, “Don’t plug your ears because your ear drums can burst. Instead, open your mouth so the sound can go out.” And they couldn’t be more correct. You genuinely feel like your body is going to explode. I always wonder how much deafer I’m going to be after each mascletà. The fireworks last from 5-10 minutes and are run by a different pyrotechnics engineer each day. I think they have competitions.

To see a video of the first mascletà, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3iNwTFO7_M

Fallas only happens in Valencia and it is so important to the city that students are actually given a full week off: March 14-19! But this week is most definitely not a week of vacation. All of Valencia is awake all day and all night for the entire time! There are firecrackers being thrown at you and fireworks going off, marching bands playing outside your window and drunk people singing, kids screaming and dogs barking. The sky is almost always lit up by something and the atmosphere is just amazing. You are up all night long and [attempt] sleep all day long and there is always something really loud going on but you do get used to it.

To see what it’s like in the middle of the night, trying to sleep, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF-0-um8k70

There are a couple of Fallas Fads and they are most abundant during the last week of fallas. First is the sombrero that everyone wears. The second is most popular and is the bandana [pañuelo]. It is usually plaid, blue and white but sometimes black and white but can be different colors. A lot of them are embroidered with “fallero” or “FALLAS 2009.” They are worn folded corner to corner [they’re in the shape of a square, so you create a triangle] and then tied in the front around your neck, so that you can see the embroidered part from the back. You can find them for cheap, 1-3 euros depending on where you go. I, of course, bought one and sported it around town.

On Sunday my friend, Holly, and I met and walked around to see people crazily finishing up the fallas. It was so neat to see them in the process of being made.

You can see a video of them finishing up one of the bigger fallas here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZC5MwwPfxE

The last day to have the fallas finished was Monday [March 16^th]. That day I met a tour group at 9am and walked around for five hours looking at different fallas. It was nice to have a Spaniard show you around because they can give you background info and take you to the coolest ones and make the most of your time. The tour ended at 2, right when the mascletà began so we watched that in the Plaza de Ajuntamiento and then went home. There was another tour at 4:30 with a different group and I had at first aspired to do this one as well but I was so exhausted I went home and slept. Later that night I went to a birthday party for another erasmus student, Stefan. After his party we went outside and they were having a concert in the street with a dj and everything so we hung out there and then I went home. There are random concerts/parties in the streets all over Spain during Fallas. You only have to pick which street you want to go to. They also have huge white tents by most of the fallas. During the construction of each falla, watchmen stay in the tents over night to guard the monument. When the week really starts, there are parties inside the tents and I was told that you could pay one price and have unlimited drinks in there with a DJ, etc. I didn’t go that route and wish I would have been able to experience the “white tent” at least once.

Really I don’t have what it takes to be a Spaniard. There is no way I can stay up all day and all night for a whole week straight! Haha. Tuesday and Wednesday I took it easy and didn’t really go out much but to shop and meet friends to hang out.

Thursday was the last day of Fallas. I told myself I wanted to make the most of it and hang out with SPANIARDS and not just other exchange students. I made this my personal goal and set out to find the token Spaniard. Holly had met a guy on the excursion a couple weeks ago and he was really nice and we had hung out with him once before so I emailed him. He was very willing to hang out with me and I was so excited! Then, another Spanish friend, Paula, messaged me and asked me what I was doing that night and invited herself to come with us. I was overjoyed… not one, but TWO Spaniards! Yippee! Haha. You can imagine how ecstatic I was to find out she was bringing her other Spanish friend.

As I was getting ready to go, one of my roommates told me that they were about to burn the falla outside my window! It was only 10PM so they were just burning the falla infantil, but I captured it all on camera. It was super cool, even for a mini cremà.

To see a video of the falla infantil burning outside my window [in 3 stages], go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j97cjXqHG20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghxAg9LwNIk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhj_B5l575w

We all met at 11:30 at the metro stop. I felt so cool to introduce Jose, my SPANISH friend, to Paula and Jennifer, my other SPANISH friendS. Haha. Together we drove in Jose’s car to Nou Campanar, the falla that had won first place. Apparently it had won first place multiple times in a row before and was practically the richest barrio so it was no surprise it won. We made it right on time and barreled through the crowds to get a good view. It was like walking though a carnival because they had set up all kinds of games to play. Like most carnivals if you won you could get a huge stuffed animal or a cheap bike and the like. One thing that they most definitely don’t have as a prize in the US is a LEG OF HAM. That’s right, folks. If you win you can get that as your prize. Of course I had to take a picture. Check it out in the Fallas fun and other things related album below.

We didn’t have to wait too long and the cremà started. As always some fireworks were let off and the burning began! It took a lot longer than I thought and the structure was super strong. Don’t worry! I took a video of that, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHJeKsOxM0U

To see pictures I took of maaany different Fallas [and only the Fallas], visit:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027805&id=139902062&l=26022e069d

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027808&id=139902062&l=b7299d7941

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027816&id=139902062&l=272e03528c

Facebook will only let you upload 60 pix to an album so these are in groups of 60 pix!

To see Fallas fun and other things related, go here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027470&id=139902062&l=84be44c4ee

For more [accurate] information, visit:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallas [In Spanish- most information] or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falles [In English]

I really hope you all were able to experience some of Fallas through my eyes. It was a super interesting cultural holiday that I had never heard of before coming here and I was so happy to be a part of it. If you ever get the change to come to Valencia [3^rd largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona], do come and come during Fallas, in March!!!

Thanks for reading and Happy Traveling!

Jhonni