boom Boom BOOM

Mascletá = fireworks during the day.

I know, who shoots fireworks during the day? Y además, who shoots fireworks EVERY day during the day? Why would anyone want to see that?

Answers: Valencia, Valencia, and because they are AWESOME! I explained earlier that Valencia fireworks are not your average firework. The pretty sparkly part you see at night is only half of their magic. So, this is why bacoodles of people show up every day at 2:00 p.m. in the main town plaza for the Mascletá. And they will continue to show up there until the end of Fallas.
I went to my first one on Saturday.
TONS of people...just for a five minute spectacle of smoke and loud booms.



Before it started, I was still doubting (just a little bit) that it would really be worth it. But now I'm a believer. Plus, the whole experience is part of it. You are in a huge crowd of people, most are drinking beer. Then, the second that it turns 2:00, people start whistling. This is how you "boo" something in Spain. You whistle. (Well...I just puckered and pretended...can't never could whistle.) They whistle because the Mascletá didn't start exactly at 2:00. But it begins soon enough, leaving you speechless. You feel the boom in your chest all the way down to your feet. The only thing to see is really a lot of smoke. Then it's over, and everyone goes back to their day.


Later we heard that another Mascletá was going to be on the beach at 6:00. Vamos!
We got on a tram with a ton of other people heading to the same place...but we didn't have much time to spare. RIGHT when we got off the tram we heard the booms. We all took off running towards the explosions and poofs of smoke.


This Mascletá was longer and a little more visually interesting. It also seemed to have even louder booms than the others. You could sometimes see little sparkles, but the coolest part was the different smoke formations.
I thought these looked like Super Mario clouds.


This Mascletá lasted like 20 minutes instead of 5, which made our 15 minute tram ride more worth it. But don't worry, I didn't film it all. Lillie and I are "ahh-ing" in the video because sometimes you just have to...the booms are so much.


With all the craziness of running from the tram to the beach, we lost some of our group. Luckily, Lillie has her whistle. Every time we've been traveling or we are in large crowds Lillie says, "And remember, I have my whistle...so just listen for it if you get lost." Only problem is we've never used it so none of us our accustomed to listening for it when we do get separated :)


So we just used a cell phone and found everyone else.




Al fin y al cabo, we have the third and final firework show. At night, they are fireworks. Mascletá is the wordfor the ridiculous day time fireworks. In the same plaza as the 2:00 show, there was a parade around 10:30 (this is all the same day p.s.). It began with the falleras mayores float.

What is a fallera mayor?
It is a girl of fallas...a very special girl.
Each falla neighborhood votes on a fallera mayor (one who is beautiful, smart, charitable, blah blah blah). Then of those girls, you get the fallera mayor of the whole shabang.
The girl at the top of this float is the fallera mayor of the whole Falla festival. She is pretty much set for life after this.


But then the parade got... well... lame. I'm sure there were things going on we didn't understand, as we literally had NO history or information on this parade. Guess we're used to just enjoying parades even if you don't know everything about them..cool floats, beads, etc. Not exactly the case with this one...as you can see from the photo below.


So we left and came back an hour later for the final firework show of the day. I spared you and didn't even bother taking a video of this one. Instead I photographed our faces as the fireworks went off. We were RIGHT under these. During and after fireworks like these, you feel like you are on top of the whole world. In love with everyone and everything around you! I don't know how they make you feel like this. . . but they do.

I love this...Jimmy (in the back) doesn't like loud noises. What a champ.

'




While leaving the firework plaza, guess who I ran into?


My bus driver Vicente! I was already super excited leaving the fireworks. So when I felt someone grab my arm and I turn to see it was my sweet sweet bus driver, I was probably way more excited than he expected me to be. Also, don't think he was expecting to get photographed or to meet all 7 of my roommates. I forget this is regular life for some people and they aren't all giddy and giggly every time fireworks go off.

Of course I don't expect to run into people I know in Valencia...so it REALLY surprises me when I do. It has happened just a few times with some other people from work. I guess that means I am turning into a local here now, huh?



Did you really think there weren't gonna be some of these at the end of a day like this?

Soooo, still not tired of fireworks after all that. However, when a little band and started playing outside my window at ten the next morning... and then more fireworks went off throughout the day, I realized how the locals could get annoyed with Fallas. Because anyone and everyone is just setting off fireworks throughout the day. Not like long firework shows, just like a firecracker here and there.
We have already received our rules for the week of Fallas. We are to close our windows at night to prevent fireworks from shooting into our rooms. If we see a firework war in the riverbed park, we are not to get in the middle of it. And if a certain type of firework coming zooming towards us, we are not to move because it apparently chases after vibrations. Good thing I have no idea what this firework looks or sounds like.
We will see how I feel about fireworks when this is all over...if I survive that is.