As I write this I am currently on a train traveling back to Madrid from Pamplona. This past week was quite an eventful and memorable one. On Thursday morning a friend from home flew in to visit me. Both Thursday and Friday after work I went out with him and showed him around. It was interesting knowing that 7 weeks ago I was doing the same as him, and going sightseeing and looking at all the top attractions, but now I was able to effectively guide him around. I think it’s quite the testament to how comfortable I’ve become in Madrid, and how well I’ve learned about the city and culture. I was able to take him places and tell him things about what we were seeing. 

The big part of his visit though came this weekend. As I said, I am writing this post while coming back from Pamplona. This weekend, and since the 6th of July, was Pamplonas famous San Fermin festival, where the running of the bulls takes place. On Saturday me and my friend headed down to take part and see what it was like. We arrived later on Saturday and basically just slept in the hostel as we knew we had a big day ahead of us on Sunday. Then Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to the city center to take part in all the festivities. While initially unsure if I was actually going to run with the bulls or just watch, we both ended up running with them. We got there around 7am to get a place on the street and get ready. The bulls are released to run at 8am, so we had about an hour. After getting set up, however, the police needed to “check” all the runners, so everyone needed to leave the street and then reenter. This process finished at around 7: 45, so we had about 15 minutes. We found the place on the street we were gonna run from, which was probably about 200 meters or so in at the beginning of the longest straightaway street. These 15 minutes of waiting was such a unique experience. The nerves worrying about the rushing bulls is crazy and all the adrenaline is flowing. Along with that, tons of people on top of you on their balconies and around you outside the barriers watching you, so it’s a unique feeling knowing all the spectators are there to watch you run. It’s like all their eyes are on you. Lastly, the general mood of all the runners is very similar, and a kind of shared feeling is in the area. You can tell everyone is both nervous and excited, with everyone wishing each other luck and hugging each other, even though they are strangers.

When the first gun went off to signal the bulls had been released then it was just a waiting game to see when to start running. As we were close to the beginning, I didn’t have to wait very long. The bulls came around a corner and I turned to run. It’s interesting as the hardest part by far is dodging all the other runners in front of you. You are turned around and running away from the bulls and kinda using the crows as a guide, so you don’t even really see the bulls until they pass you. Then once they pass you, it’s pretty much over. Really you are only running for like 30 ish seconds at most and then it’s over. It was quite fun after they passed knowing I had completed this once in a lifetime experience.

All the runners then finish out running the rest of the street path with ends in the bullfighting stadium. This again was cool as the runners were on the dirt inside the ring while the stands were packed with spectators. They then release one bull at a time into the ring to be with the runners. As the ring is quite large it’s very easy to stay away from the bull if you want to, which I mainly did. Some people though are very adventurous and go up and try to touch the bull and get as close as possible. Their attempts are all entertaining. After this, there was a little break in the festival, so we went back to the hotel and rested. We then came back later that night for the ending festivities and activities, which included the culture parade, fireworks, and singing of pobre de mi. In the middle of all this though, Spain also played the Euro finals, which was broadcasted on a public screen in a town square, which we watched the game from. Spain won an hour before the 8th and final day of the festival officially ended, so the city was very jovial and lively. The weekend as a whole was very lively. 

As the weekend ends though my time in Madrid also is, as I only have 5 days left. Through work and living, I think I have learned quite a lot about Spanish and Madridian culture. For this week’s blog, I can focus on success in a professional sense here in Spain. I think Spain defines success in a similar way to the US. You have to do what’s expected of you to the best of your ability. I don’t think it is much different from success in the US. A successful employee here is one who applies themselves to their tasks and does their best work, just like in the US. I think the behaviors of successful workers are similar in both cultures while at work. I think the only difference is in Spain work is only expected while at work, while in the US doing extra can be seen as success. Here, doing extra or staying late is completely unnecessary to success.