March 19

I woke up around 11:00 and laid in my bed for a while, it was relaxing to hear the people passing by my window but have the room in complete darkness. I got out of bed at around 11:45 because Scott was going around trying to rally people to go to the Mesclata. I figured since it was the last day I should. I was glad I went, The noise was deafening. The streets were jammed packed with people and today there was another obstacle: umbrellas. There was a slight drizzle and everyone seemed to have an umbrella that I was right at about eye level with.

Those of us that went to the Mesclata all ate lunch when we got back. It was chicken paella and lemon chicken with French fries. It was pretty good. After, I hung out with Scott, Diego and Dave and we talked about all the fireworks Diego was looking to buy. The fireworks you can buy in stores here and very strong and Diego has always seemed to have a surplus the entire week. I decided to take a nap when they headed to the store. It was a good, hard three-hour nap.

I woke up and checked some of the NCAA scores, I was surprised that day two of the tournament wasn’t as full of as many upsets as day one was. I talked to Laura after dinner for a little bit and we set up a skype date at 11:30. She has been busy with her Sorority’s 75^th anniversary this week and has a lot on her plate to do.

While she was running errands, I went to check out some of the Fallas that had started burning. At 10:00 they only started burning the Fallas Infantil which are the smaller ninots that circle around the huge structures. While I didn’t see the large ones burning, turning the corner and seeing a fire in the middle of a plaza is pretty surprising. Diego, Greg, Dave, Dave and I went to the Rio while Diego and Greg lit off some fireworks there. We stayed for about fifteen minutes then took a round about way back to the dorm because we wanted to see the completed Mary in la Plaza de la Virgen.

It was stunning. I couldn’t believe how many roses there were. The excess flowers they used and adorned the walls and walkways all near the statue of Mary. It was so cool. I got back just in time to have Laura call. I talked to her for about an hour before I decided to head to bed. To be honest, I was happy going to bed knowing that when I woke up Fallas would be over. I think that it is a great festival but it is way too overwhelming.