Running of the Bulls
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Who: Terrence Lemon " It was a rush! It was like holding on to your life. " |
Terrence Lemon describes himself as a bit of the thrill-seeker type ---which is how he found himself bound for Spain to join hundreds of others in the most famous funning of the bulls event in Pamplona. "When Rey mentioned it, it seemed out of the norm and I definitely wanted to try it, " Terrence said. "It was one of those unbelievable trips you heard of but never heard of anyone you know taking it -one of those 'once in a lifetime trips." The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain is part of a seven-day festival of Sanfermines. It's a sort of ceremony that takes place before bullfights. Bullfights are performed by professionals, however, the running of the bulls before the bullfight is strictly for the brave and foolhardy. Terrence tells us how to prep for the Running of the Bulls
Next, Terrence said the group met in the middle of the city at 8 a.m. "No paperwork. You just put on the outfit and show up to run. There was no interpreter. Everyone just knew to meet. And there were 100's and 100's of people. You go out there, stand, and you wait to run -- we had a couple of false starts," he says it with a laugh. "People play too much sometimes." When it was really time to run, Terrence said there was no mistaking it. "A whole crowd of people started running toward us and I just remember running. Then it looked like the scene in The Ten Commandments when Moses split the sea, and the split came closer and closer, and you know it's the bulls," he vividly recalls. "It was like bungee jumping times 10! The adrenaline rush was so great that when it was done and over I was exhausted. Animals and all those people around you, with you trying to run and not fall while looking back? It was a rush! It was like holding on to your life." It was an adventure and an opportunity to see the world in a different way"After running of the bulls, the next thing we did was party...sangrias....I don't remember too much of that, " Terrence laughs. What he does recall is interacting with people from around the globe. "We met people just by standing there and talking to one another. People who spoke English just kind of gravitated toward each other. We met people from Utah and California -- from all over the world --Australia, France."
When asked what the interesting part of his experience in Spain was, he said, "It was the fact that I wasn't looked at as a person of color; I was a person of the United States. It caught me off guard to not say 'I'm from Texas' but to say 'I'm from the United States. I was a person representing the United States. This is who you were. You were a U. S. citizen."
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