Hermanitas

I've adopted Helena and Valentina to be my little sisters. They're just too much fun to be with to not have them be part of my family. We talk about boys and how great they are. We also talk about boys and how much they suck. Balance is key, ha! Tonight we ordered pizza and watched La Bella y La Bestia which is Beauty and the Beast en Español. We munched on pizza and had to use my pocketknife to cut it. It was a silly and splendid night.

Now for the sad part. Valentina is from Italy. It is highly unlikely that I will ever see her again. Helena is a Cali girl like me, but I'm headed to Costa Rica for the year and when I get back, I'm headed back to WA for school so it may be quite some time before I see her. I wish I didn't have to leave my hermanitas. Come Wednesday, I may bawl my eyes out saying goodbye to people. Tomorrow is the last day of classes. Then come finals. Thursday, I fly home. I'm sad.

Trampled

Follow up my previous post on running with the bulls.

I just saw a man get trampled by a bull. It was one of the most horrific moments of my life.

My friend, Bryce, went to investigate afterwards and he said that the man was alive but unconscious. He had been trampled all over his body, including his face. Yes, that means he had a hoof to the face. We don't know the extent of the damage, but there is a definite and likely probability that he has internal bleeding. Praying for him!

And this is the reality of running with the bulls.

No Relief

The pain is extensive.

Toes curled.

Fists clenched.

I grit my teeth.

My muscles near atrophy

Trying to keep a comfortable position.

Can't relax.

I'm dying to end this pain.

I'm trapped.

Nowhere to go.

Everyone's fine

Except me.

Laughter,

Banter

Fills the bus.

We plod along.

Relief has been wanted 

For over an hour.

When will it come?

"Please! Can we stop?

I have to pee!"

AJ

Risks

I suck at longboarding. Well, not completely. I've only fallen once but I wasn't even moving. I'm too cautious to fall. In general, I'm very cautious. I only engage in activities that are thrilling, but safe, like bungee-jumping. I don't dive for the ball when I play football, I am terrible on all things with wheels (except bikes) and I've been hit in the head too many times to count playing soccer. I really want to get over these fears. I want to get hurt doing something exciting. I want to take a couple risks and tell a good story. I want to be like these girls. They're awesome. Role models, really.

Bummer

Today my bracelet broke. It was nothing special. It has no sentimental value other than its age. 7 1/2 years spent on my wrist. It was an old hair tie that I took the elastic out of because I got bored in class. I forced it onto my wrist and there it stayed, other than during volleyball games. Volleyball league rules state that you absolutely cannot have anything on your wrist other than a sweatband. I find this absurd considering it is not a contact sport. But rules are rules, so I had to contort my hand at least twice a week during volleyball season to keep from being penalized.

The silver lining is that my bracelet broke while I was watching the bull run in Sagunto, Spain. It wasn't a normal street bull run. It was in a large, rectangular arena. The arena was lined with cages and bleachers. Under the bleachers were the cages. That's where I was. The bars are big enough for a person to fit through but not a bull. The crazies would taunt the bull and then run back into the cages when it charged them. Unlike last time, the bull was very much energetic. In fact, they had several different ones over the course of the night so as to keep them feisty. Also, luckily for me and the bull, this didn't end in death and gore.

Bummer number two of the night was that I didn't bring my camera. I didn't know we were going to watch the bulls so I didn't bring it. There's not really a silver lining for that other than the fact that I can steal pictures from my friends. It's just not the same though.

It's a killer tan-line, eh?