Bull Runs and Fiestas
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Barring some kind of bizarre national security-related call to duty or other unforeseen circumstances, I’m quite happy to reconcile the fact that there are three things I will never do: run a marathon, jump out of an airplane, or run with the bulls of Pamplona.
I thought about this when I came across this article, from the UK’s Daily Telegraph about Pamplona’s San Fermin festival, which takes place every July and includes daily encierros, the great Spanish word for “run like hell but look brave.”
I happened upon a much, much more scaled-down version of Pamplona’s great and crazy event in Rioja almost two years ago, in the town of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. For a few brief seconds, as I walked across the town’s main square after our team had captured the images we needed, I came to within twenty feet of a not-so-menacing charging bull, got a sense of the adrenaline thrill that such an event would inspire, and moved on.
And I’m okay with that.
