festa major de granollers

amanda and i got to spend the weekend with susanna, a friend who lives in granollers. this was the week of their festa major and she invited us to come and experience it for the weekend. it is slightly odd that i have lived in bcn and known susanna long enough to say that this was my second year going to the city festival...still there were quite a few things that i didn't see last year. and it was fun to see amanda discover some of this side of catalan life for the first time. i feel like i got hit by a truck i am so tired! but it was an awesome weekend...here are a few pics of our time there...i'll add some videos this week when i remember how to do that. :) this is the rajolers (the brick making contest)...no kidding this was the biggest event and the one that ended the weekend. they held it in the olympic team handball stadium in granollers. this was their 159th year for the festival and i suppose their 159th year making bricks. the entire town is divided into two teams for the week-long party. the whites and the blues. the family you are born into usually determines the team you represent. the whites traditionally were the upper class and the blues represented the working class...now those class lines are gone...but still interesting to know. (i am a blue by the way) this is during the correfoc (the running of the fire). they basically put fireworks and sparklers in the mouths of man-made animals and dance with them in the middle of the plaza. you cover your head or run to escape the sparks. this is a shadow of a little boy on his dad's shoulders. after the correfoc was the correaigua (running of the water). it was unbelievable. it was like a rock concert meets a group of kids playing with the water hose. from four corners of the plaza they turned these massive water hoses on everybody for about 15 mins. we were standing to the side to take pics but it didn't matter...haha...we got suprised from behind. :) sunday morning three teams (from reus, granollers and bcn) of castellers built their human towers. this was their last one as they simultaneously climbed and saluted the town hall. this is the group reflected in loli's sunglasses. (from left to right: susanna's dad, susanna, me, amanda, susanna's mom, loli's mom)