That’s the name of the book I am reading currently. Jim at American Pilgrims turned me on to it. It is about bull “fighting”and “running”. It is a beautiful book full of history and artistry. I’m learning a lot about Spain from exploring this national sport. I have to back up a little since there is a lot wrong here all of a sudden.

Bull fighting is the way we express this in English but in Spanish the word isn’t fighting but we have no equalivalent. It is more like being in rhythm with the power of the bull. And sport really doesn’t do it justice either. And this activity also occurs in parts of France. Our troubles with language parallels our stereotype way of thinking about bull fighting which really needs straightening out.

I can remember watching it on TV as a kid in the early sixties before we were taught that it was something barbaric by who knows who. It was before color TV too and that would have made it even richer. I was fascinated by the whole thing and somehow that early interest plays into my current armchair enthusiasm.

So the full name of the book is “Fiesta: How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona”. Which brings up the whole activity of running with the bulls which Pamplona is famous for. This is an ancient deal that goes along with “fighting”. It is supposed to be the act of herding the animals and moving them with respect to next part of the pageant. It is not supposed to be some hair brained sucidal deal although runners do get injured and occasionally killed. It is a way for the average guy to be an active part of the whole thing.

So, Pamplona has the most famous run although each city that has a fight has a run but each is different. Estrella where I participated is no different and the book filled me in on something interesting. And that is the bulls of Estrella may not be bulls at all but horned females, at least when the book was published and that was a while ago. Maybe it was some sort of Spanish Junior Varsity Bull Run that I got my feet wet in. Nobody told me at the time and I was too focused on those horns and not getting trampled by moving bodies to have time to check for other things. And I was probably above my pay grade there even but I survived. There is a saying that God watches out for Marines and fools, take your pick.

Untrampled love, Felipe.