Light Shows

In an area called Rusafa, there were light shows every night of Fallas. Loved it! It looks like a fantasy land :)

The wonderful Fallas!

So these are what fallas look like... There were soooo many! Here's a look at some of the 100s that I saw. Some of them had descriptions which were all in Valenciano so I couldn't understand them :( They're made out of wood, styrofoam, plastic, and some type of paper mache material. They seemed to be hollow on the inside but heavy enough to stay up without cables or anything holding them to the ground. The fallas start going up around March 13. Cranes are used for the super tall ones, and then by 8 am on March 16th they are fully completed!

Adam & Eve, Isaac Newton, Steve Jobs... can you guess the theme?

This one is in the main plaza and funded by the public, not a specific neighborhood. The theme is tourism. Slightly offensive...

This is the American tourist... hmmmm... (his arm was fixed before March 16th)

Close up of the one above

Yep, he's a little inappropriate for children to be seeing

I thought this one was so cute

This is a specialty falla. There are different categories and the ones that don't look like the same style as the others are in the "Specialty" category.

My fave and the biggest one that was about 100 ft tall... The Trojan Horse.

 

This one won some prizes... why? I'm not sure, I couldn't read the Valenciano.

Meet Katherine, one of my fave people that I've met on this trip. She's not even a part of our group! I randomly met her and her sister in a coffee shop near my dorm. They're from Atlanta, how random! Friends para siempre! lol Oh yea, how cute is this falla? she's a fallera!

¡Que guay!

Valencia is on fallllaaaa

These past days of the Fallas holidays have been insane. That's the best way to describe them. The worst part are the small children setting of firecrackers every 5 secs (literally, we counted) and more people setting off mini bombs (as I like to call them) that have an intense flash and make you partially deaf. I have never experienced anything like Fallas, especially considering firecrackers, fireworks, and mini bombs are illegal to the general public and babies at home! Other crazy things-- parties and discotecas (clubs) in the streets, random break-dancing showcases around the city, concerts in diff neighborhoods, fire-twirlers, harassment by Puerto Ricans, people jumping on top of taxis outside my window, bars on every corner, 1 million ppl, wake-up calls around the city AND flower offerings to the giant Virgin Mary 5 mins away from my dorm. Let's not forget this is a celebration for a Saint. Please try to imagine all of this! Here are a few quick examples. Way more cool things to come!!!

The neighborhood I live in is called Barrio del Carmen. This is my neighborhood during fallas!

Outside of Subway, this girl pours cups of Sangria from the 2 jugs she was carrying around.

Break dancing in front of the Torres de Serranos.

My mom lets me play with fire...

More pyromaniacs in training

Yep, we're going to skate through the crowds.

Ninots

Ninots are baby fallas. Every year tons of them are made and then set up in an exhibit. People come and vote on their favorite, and whichever one has the most votes will be added the Fallas Museum that consists of ninots from previous years. The rest of the ninots will be burned on the beach on March 19th with the big fallas. OH yes I forgot to mention- all of that time and hard work put into building ninots and fallas is all destroyed by fire on the last day. "Fallas" means "fire", and the huge burning of the fallas is a part of the festival of fire. Back to the Ninots. We went to the exhibit, and each one expresses how they are against a tax increase that is on the verge of being passed. They are satirical and some are kind of risqué.

Baby ninots

OH hey McD's stripper... ???

Hanging with Mona again

This was my favorite!!!