Flick of the Day

Las Fallas

There was no way I was going to miss out on this. After at first being disheartened by the fact that there was no space available at any of the hostels (yes, hostels!) that all of my friends would be staying at, I thought I couldn't go. But then, in what was surely some sort of sign (ok not really, more just like a convenient coincedence), someone backed out of the trip and offered me their spot! I was going to Las Fallas, a yearly celebration held in Valencia, Spain.

So I'll be the first to admit that I didn't really know what the Fallas were about, but that was beside the point; I had to go. After getting my lodging and bus ticket all squared away, I turned to my school schedule as an after thought. Another sign: we had a project due on the day I was scheduled to leave. Great.

I don't know what I was expecting when I sent my professor an email, telling her the truth about why I wouldn't be in class the upcoming Thursday and pleading to either turn in the project early or take half credit to turn it in late. But no, she said it simply couldn't be done, and that it would be unfair to the other students who were attending class that day. Ha! Little did she know, 75% of the class was going to be on the same bus that I was, heading to the celebration! Shouldn't my honesty have counted for something? I guess not, since honesty is supposedly its own reward (or some zen saying like that).

Needless to say, I packed up my bag and went, practicing what I had learned from numerous yoga classes: clearing my mind of all my problems. We arrived at the end of the week-long celebration, walking around and taking pictures and reveling in the magnificence that were the Fallas. The picture above can only hint at the sheer magnitude of these constructions. Almost as tall as average four-story apartment buildings, they stood towering in the middle of streets and causing the flow of the entire city to yield to them. And the best part? At the end of the festival, the burn them! Yes, set them on fire! Personally, I think that's where the name was derived from, not the Latin root word for torch as history suggests. It's one of the best bonfires I have ever attended, with thousands of people swarming the streets to watch the fallas burn.

So, even though I missed out on some credit for one of my projects, I got to experience something that I may never have the opportunity to again. And I did it with people who are now my close friend, with whom I can share a cherished memory forever.