PASAJES Y EL NOCHE DE SAN JUAN
- Hannah McDonald
- Jun 23, 2017
- 7 min read
This morning I woke up in my host family's house for the last time. I finished packing up my bags and ate breakfast before walking to school with Makaela. It was a weird feeling, knowing it was my last day with La Cunza. In my first class, we reviewed vocabulary and the subjunctive tense with games. Then, we played Psicólogo, of course. It was a much more difficult round this time, and the doctors didn't quite crack the puzzle. In our second class, we finished our movie posters and played a long game that reviewed content from the week. During the project time, each of the four groups gave their musical performances. One group even had a student playing the guitar, which I loved. Somehow though, our group's song must have come together because we won. Following everyone's songs, certificates were handed out to students leaving the program this week. It is official, I am done with classes at La Cunza. For lunch, Makaela, Ruby, Celeste, and I went to various markets near the school. Ruby and I went to a good bread shop and a good fruit and veggie shop while Makaela and Celeste went to get pizza. I got the best orange I've had this whole trip. Possibly the best bread as well because we went back to get more. Needing some vegetables, Ruby and I also got raw carrots to naw on. Makaela and I's last excursion was to the fishing town Pasajes. We took the bus from San Sebastian to Pasajes, and, then, we walked around Pasajes a little. We saw a large pile of sticks already set up to burn tonight for El Noche de San Juan. Lots of pictures were taken by the water before heading down to the museum. The museum was in remembrance of a whale hunting boat, which is now being recreated. We were taken on a tour through the small museum where we were given information on the boat and whale hunting, in Spanglish. At the end of the tour, we were shown the workshop that is being used to build the boat. Then, we entered the room where the boat is. It's huge. The project is about half way done. They have been working on it for three years and have three more years to go. Once it is complete, the boat will sail to Canada, like the original did. Following the tour, our whole group got on a short boat ride to the other side of town. At the end of the ride, Ruby, Makaela, and I hung back on the boat with one of the teachers, Unai, to take a quick picture. Less than a minute later though, the boat driver repeatedly informed us we needed to get off. Giving in, we hopped off and started walking through the streets. In the center of the town, we found a super tall, skinny tree. For the San Juan celebration, people attempt to climb it, hoping to get to the money that is sometimes on top. It looked impossible to me. There were so many good places to take pictures in the town. One of our friends, Connor, was kind enough to put up with our impulsive picture taking. Constantly, Makaela, Ruby, Celeste, and I would hand Connor a camera, pile our bags on him, and ask him to take a picture. I'm sure it would be very entertaining to watch that process. The large group split into two, one staying in town and one talking a walk up to a good view. The five of us went on the walk, but we ended up stopping to take so many pictures that we lost the group. Not finding them anywhere, we turned back. Now with the group staying in town, we sat by the water and watched the fish. Once the hiking group returned, Unai showed us pictures of the view they got on the walk, and it was beautiful. Bummer we got lost, but it was still a great time. Heading back through town to the bus stop, people were already starting to flood the streets for San Juan festivals. As we stepped on the bus, it looked like a parade was beginning. Plans for the evening were finalized on the bus, and our group ended up splitting in two until meeting back up for dinner. That was the best way to maximize time. Celeste, Connor, and Aidan took Connor's younger sister back to their apartment, and Makaela, Ruby, and I went to move my luggage. Given that Makaela and I's host family lives outside of the city, we ran-walk all the there. I broke a sweat even though the weather was nice and cool out. We quickly stopped by Makaela's host family's apartment to download the day's pictures on her computer before going to my host family's apartment. At my host family's apartment, I had to collect my luggage and say goodbye. I had one last conversation with them, thanked them for everything, and took a picture with them. Unfortunately, my host brother, Henry, was not home, but Julissa and the mom were. It was strange to say goodbye after living with them for three weeks, but it was inevitable. Makaela had finished putting a few last things in my luggage, and she and Ruby pulled it out into the hall. After one last hug to each member of my host family, I met Ruby and Makaela by the elevator. We then hauled all my luggage down the street about ten minutes to my family's apartment for the next few days. Approaching the new apartment, I saw mom walking down the street and ran to give her a hug. It has been awhile for sure. She took Makaela, Ruby, and I up to the apartment where I then got to see Joey and Dad. I was very happy to see everyone again. We chatted for a little before heading back out. I pointed Mom in the direction of a shop, and Makaela, Joey, Ruby, and I waited for a bus. Needing to get into town quickly to meet up with the rest of the group, we hopped on bus seventeen. Usually we take twenty eight, but they all should go to the city's main strip. We spent the rest of the bus cards' money on theses rides, which was good since we were returning them to Makaela's host mom that night. After only being on the bus a little while, Makaela and I started to notice we were leaving town. Confused, I went up and asked the bus driver if the bus would go back to town and in how long. He responded, "yes, about ten minutes," but in Spanish. Thinking we were fine, the four of us remained seated. Sadly though, I had to text Celeste informing her we got on the wrong bus, so we would be awhile. The bus driver eventually pulled over the bus, but, instead of turning around, he just got out. Very confused, we all sat and waited on the bus for a little while. After all, our bus cards were empty. Beginning to get worried, Makaela spotted bus number twenty eight turning in the direction of town. The four of us sprinted out of bus number seventeen toward bus number twenty eight. Luckily, the driver stopped to let us on, but he definitely showed us we were in a rush. After scrounging to find the money, we went back to sit down. Now we knew where we were and where we were going. Turns out, we just got on the bus on the wrong side of the street. Makaela and I had never taken the bus into town, only out of it. That was an adventure, a great first one for Joey in San Sebastian. Finally reaching the city's main strip, the four of us met up with Celeste, Connor, and Aidan at the Indian Restaurant Makaela and I had been to early this trip. The seven of us were seated upstairs, by ourselves. Everyone got to meet Joey, which I think she enjoyed because now she can picture people when I talk about them. A ton of food was ordered between us all, and we did it semi-family style. It was so delicious and so fun. After doing all the math to divide the check, we headed out to find the fires in celebration of San Juan.
We headed down to La Concha because that where we thought all the fires would be. It was disappointing when we arrived to no fires. None the less, the lights reflecting on the water were beautiful and we took pictures. The ocean was the lowest I had seen it in all three weeks. It was strange but pretty none the less. Eventually, we decided to head over to the surfer beach and see if there were fires there. As we approached, the smoke gave it away. The beach was covered in fires and people. The seven of us walked down on the beach and went toward the water. Shortly after we put our feet in the water, we headed back up because Makaela and Connor had to leave. Makaela has an early flight tomorrow, and Connor's parents wanted him home. It was sad to say goodbye to them, but, again, it was inevitable. I'll see Makaela again in a couple weeks, and, hopefully, we'll be able to keep in touch with Connor. Once they left, Ruby, Celeste, Joey, Aidan, and I found a spot to sit on the beach and hangout, watching the fires. After awhile, we decided we wanted to make one too, but we didn't know it was a bring your own fire sort of thing. We started to make a pit and through some worksheets and notebook paper from La Cunza in it, but we had nothing to sustain a fire or light one. Feeling adventurous, we decided to walk through the city a little, looking for cardboard. Joey, Ruby, and I left while Celeste and Aidan kept our spot on the beach. Sure enough, we found a ton of cardboard by some dumpsters. We collected some and returned back to the beach. On the way back, the sky was illuminated with some fireworks. We then set the fire pit up and starting bring remnants of an old fire over to ours. We added remnants and blew on them until a flame started. The fire actually started fairly quickly, and it was then just about maintaining it. The cardboard of course burned through pretty quickly, so Joey and Aidan went back to find more. They brought a bunch back and from there it was relaxing. Just hanging out on the beach by the fire, only needing to maintain it. Part of the San Juan tradition is to jump over the fires, signifying a new start. Since our fire was small, Joey went for it. Ruby and Celeste followed. We then just sat around the fire until all the cardboard burned through. Once gone, we smothered it in sand. Pretty late now, the five of us started our walk home. First we had to say goodbye to Celeste, then to Ruby, then to Aidan. It is amazing that in just five days we were able to become good friends. Fortunately, I should be able to see Ruby and Celeste back in Colorado in a couple weeks, but it was goodbye to Aidan and to the best night of the trip so far.
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