Las Fallas de Valencia

This weekend was absolutely one of the best of my life! My aunt lives right in the center of Valencia, (along with her 11 children), so they invited me to stay with them for Las Fallas. After school Angela dropped me off at the train station in Gandia, and I took the hr or so train ride to Valencia by myself, which made me feel a lot cooler than it should have (I always feel really mature when I use public transportation solo). At the station, my cousin Mari picked me up. She's 18 so we get along really, really well. Just walking from the train station to the few blocks away to her apartment was chaos. There were so many people, and as soon as we stepped out into the street there was music and Falleras parading around the streets. Falleros are the people who dress up in the traditional clothing of Valencia and participate in all of the festivities to celebrate the Virgin Mary. Being a fallero is a real honor here and people get really emotional with everything.

When we got back to Mari's apartment, we chilled out for awhile and then later went to go get 
STARBUCKS<333.Anyone that knows me knows I'm obsessed with Starbucks like the majority of
Americans, so you can imagine my excitement after 7 months of deprivation for a Mocha Frappucino.
Later, we walked around the main shopping area of Valencia, looking into stores and catching up. Then we went into the main Plaza, where there were huge Fallas everywhere! Las Fallas are these beautiful
giant wooden structures that are so intricately painted.Mainly, they have to do with political or social
events and are satirical, but they were beautiful just the same. I was literally in awe. I remember walking
arm in arm with Mari, telling her how happy I was because it was so true.Valencia is by far one of the
most beautiful cities I've ever seen, and this night was just perfect. Walking down beautiful European
streets with all of the people and music and these Fallas was just amazing. There was a vibrancy and a
liveliness in the air that was just indescribable.


Later that night, after eating dinner, we went out to go meet up with Mari and her friends. They were all
beautiful and really welcoming and we had a really great time that night. We went to El Puente, which is a bridge that everyone went to to go see El castillos (fireworks). As I stood there, looking these amazing
lights (I'm such a sucker for fireworks), I remember saying "Don't forget this, don't forget this.." It was
such a beautiful moment for me, and the night seemed somehow magical, that I knew I wanted to
remember that moment, like so many others I've experience here, for the rest of my life. After the
fireworks we walked literally through all of Valencia to find the discomobile. I ruined a new pair of boots
and my feet were absolutely dead, but it was worth it.


The next day, Mari and I went to the main market with her family. This market was incredible and had
every type of food imaginable; all of it fresh. There was a ton of people inside, and just to add some fiesta, a band also was walking around, playing music. After that, Mari and I went to Starbucks and waited for
la mezclata. La mezclata is basically fireworks during the day, but without light and a whole lot of sound. Seriously, it wasn't my favorite only because it sounded like you were in the middle of a war zone. Once we made are way home, we ate and took a siesta, then got ready to go to mass later.


We went to the same church where my cousin Dani (Mari's older brother) got married this year. The
church is beautiful and although I understand Spanish well, I still couldn't keep up with the mass, only
because it was a bit boring and my attention span isn't long enough for me to translate a whole sermon for myself in my head. After church, we went to get something to eat with some of our friends. On the way
back, we saw a bunch of break dancers doing these amazing stunts. At all hours of the day and night  
during Las Fallas, you can find something interesting to do. There's either light shows, break dancers, or 
just the incessant parading of the Falleras, but it's always exciting.


The next day was a lot more calm. We basically hung around the house all day, exhausted from going out all day and practically all night. Later, when it was time to meet up with our friends, we went to a pizza
place to eat beforehand and Starbucks of course afterwards. This night was the best because the disco
mobile was the coolest and we could actually dance! Haha, we got home late again and by the next
morning I was exhausted from such a jam packed weekend of fun. Literally every moment of this
weekend was amazing and I am so lucky to have been able to gone with my wonderful cousin
Mari.