#51 - Go to La Tomatina in Spain

This is an experience of a life time.
A must!
Do it if you can!
Amazing :)

"La Tomatina" is a tomato fight that happens in the city of Buñol every year, on the last Wednesday of August. People from all over the world fill up the small tight main street of the village just to have fun diving in tomato sauce! Hahahahaha so much fun!
I was red from head to toe, being attacked with tomatoes and water from every side. And the coolest thing is dirtying up the clean people who just got there... attack! :D

Well, I could tell you more, but you can see better pics and get more infos googling, it's a fairly famous festival! So here's some of my personal thoughts:

- My friends and I stayed in a hotel in Valencia, it's the closest big city and it's full of hostels. Just be sure to book your stay VERY EARLY, like in January... 'cause in July all the hotels will be booked and you'll only find expensive alternatives :/
- There are trains between Valencia and Buñol coming every half an hour or so. Don't worry about dirtying up the seats, you can clean yourself in Buñol, but be ready to seat on the floor of the train, 'cause it's gonna be full both ways! Don't forget to buy a return ticket, 'cause the line to buy it on the way back is very long!
- The Tomatina doesn't happen all day long, it's just a couple of hours, so be there early! (around 10 a.m.) We were there around midday and it was already going on, we missed most of the trucks that come with the tomatoes, we had to fight with tomatoes from the floor :P

- When you get to Buñol, you have to walk a LOOOONG way downhill to get to the city centre where the magic happens, just follow the flow, but don't be mistaken, you're on the right path, it's really about 2 km away from the train station. The way up after the fight is HORRIBLY tiring :/
- You will be tempted by street vendors to buy diving goggles, but honestly DON'T BUY IT! It's a waste of money. We bought it and wore it for 20 minutes and then threw them away. They get blurry and dirty in seconds. I was afraid the acid of the tomatoes would hurt my eyes, but I didn't feel a thing.
- After a while the street gets too full and policemen hold people back, letting them in slowly. This is the most annoying part. We waited under the sun, smashed in the crowd.

- TOMATO FIGHT!!! :D Oh God, so much fuuuuuuuuuun :D Nothing for clean uptight people. That thing is dirty and smelly and yucky and awesome! Tomato sauce flowing on the sidewalks, the smell of alcohol from the fermented tomatoes on the sun, lost shoes on the floor and everyone squeezed, attacking each other. Amazing! hahahahahaha Not for everyone, but definetly amazing! I felt like a kid living a gigantic food fight :D
- The people from Buñol throw water at the turists from their windows and balconies, it's delicious! You can cool off and get clean. And if you still want to shower, there are public showers and a river downhill.
- After the city is clean (more or less), you can find tons of lost pairs of sneakers and boots and flip flops. If you have the patience to wash them until you get rid of the fermented tomato smell :P BTW, be carefull not to lose anything, it can get really crowded! So put your stuff in secure plastic bags and keep them iside your clothes (I didn't take mobiles, just a bit of money and the waterproof camera).

I wish there were better pics, but we only had a disposable waterproof camera and it was full of tomato sauce, so it's all a bit blury and in bad quality... I hope you like it anyway :)

Well, I've crossed this one off my list! :)
Still 51 things to go!
See you soon! :)*** YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON YOUTUBE, BY CLICKING HERE! :D

*** THANKSSSSSSSS! :D

#50 - Carve a pumpkin for Halloween

Happy Halloween, everyone!!!
And happy 50th post to me :D

To celebrate one of my favorite hollidays ever, I decided to include this item on my list!
Can you believe I had never carved a pumpkin before?
Halloween isn't such a big tradition in Brazil, nor in Germay for that matter... so some people go from house to house asking for candy, but pumpkins aren't very common... I always wanted to do a Jack O'Lantern and when I saw the pumpkins in the supermarket this month I thought "This is my chance!" :D

The pumpkin was a little old and green already, I bought it a few weeks ago... but it still turned out cute! I put it on the sidewalk in front of my house with a few lollipops for the kids... I hope they take it! (Germans can be very uptight, even the kids... so... I don't know if they'll dare! lol)

To carve your own pumpkin, here's a few lessons I've learned:

- Really put a lot of paper to avoid the interior of the pumpkin and its juice to make a mess in your kitchen... some of my paper fell apart and I had to clean it...
- Sharp, stable, long knife! Mine were the worst for the job!
- Details are easy to draw but horrible to carve... pumpkins are harder than I thought!
- Getting the flesh out takes an ETERNITY. Just saying... Be ready to exercise... get a spoon and clean that thing! Stupid annoying strings! Never ending seeds! It's hard work! Nothing for kids!
- Test your candle for a few minutes before you put your Jack outside... if the candle's too high it might burn the top of the pumpkin or even go out on its own :/

I'm so proud of my Halloween pumpkin! I love it! What do you guys think? :)
Here a video of my hard work!

Well, I've crossed this one off my list! :)
Still 50 things to go!
See you soon! :) 
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#49 - Be naked outdoors

Believe it or not, I had never been to a nudist beach before this day!
And I'm one of those die-hard-naturalist people who takes their clothes off whenever they can! Hahaha seriously, I wish we would all be naked all the time, no sexual thought, just because it feels so free and awesome! :)
I actually think I have some sort of neurosis when it comes to clothes... I feel all squeezed and restrained... I can't wait to come home and be naked, everyday! Hahahaha

And contrary to what a lot of people think, Brazil is a very double moralist country, with conservative laws against female nudity... (Men can at least be topless, we can't) Which is one of the reasons I love Europe... people undress much more often and naturally... without feeling sexual about it... and that's the way it should be! :)

The beach I visited this day is called Marbella, it's a great place in Barcelona, Spain... it's a gay beach where nudism is allowed... not everone there was naked, but a lot were... I felt really comfortable since the guys there were all couples and didn't cared at all about my nakedness :D I would've been more self-conscious if it wouldn't be a gay place... straight culture is very much into harrassing women with their clothes on, God forbid them from seeing skin. Stupid.

Anywaaaaaaay... this was such a great experience and I had so much fun with my friends, swimming and laying in the sun in total freedom! I can only recommend it to everyone! It's almost a therapeutic thing! Hahahaha

Of course I can't show much, but here's a short video :)

Well, I've crossed this one off my list! :)
Still 51 things to go!
See you soon! :)*** YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON YOUTUBE, BY CLICKING HERE! :D

*** THANKSSSSSSSS! :D

#48 - Do the chubby bunny challenge

I initially listed a challenge to chew as much gum as I could, but when I found out about this one I decided it would be a lot cooler :D

The chubby bunny challenge consists of putting as many marshmallows in your mouth as you possibly can without chewing or swallowing! Each time you put one you have to say "Chubby bunny" and the person who can put in the most pieces wins!
You can also do it by yourself, like I did, just for the sake of looking ridiculous :D

I had a bit of a disadvantage here for 3 reasons:
1- I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaate marshmallows. Always have... I don't know how you people can possibly like these things! :P
2- These marshmallows in particullar were HUGE!
3- My mouth is so small it's pathetic, I can't even bite normal sandwiches sometimes! lol

In any case I think I did well... you can check some true masters of chubby bunny on youtube, putting more than 10 marshmallows in... crazy!! Anyway, get ready to laugh at my big cheeks! :)

Well, I've crossed this one off my list! :)
Still 52 things to go!
See you soon! :)*** YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON YOUTUBE, BY CLICKING HERE! :D

*** THANKSSSSSSSS! :D

#47 - Spend a day presenting as a guy

I know, I'm an ugly dude! :P

My inspiration for this male look was Lady Gaga's alterego Jo Calderone:

And whyyyy? Because on the day I decided to be a guy I also travelled hours with the train to Cologne and watched the Lady Gaga concert... all dressed up like that! Hahaha
I think this brought us a lot of luck, because me and my friends were chosen to be in the Monster Pit (the VIP area of the concert) :DDD even though we were there quite late!

I made a video with some of the best moments of the day... so I don't even have to tell you guys much... just 2 things:

1- Thanks to my sister and my friend who endured the day with me, also dressed up as men :D I couldn't have done it without them! It would be so much more embarrassing alone! Hahahah

And 2- People are mean and pathetic... we were called so many names by people who a) thought we were lesbians just because we weren't wearing dresses... and b) think being a lesbian is somehow shameful and worthy of discrimination.... screw you, people!

That been said... I had a lot of fun playing a stereotyped dude! Just a little trouble with the voice tone, but fuuuuuuun! :) Here's the video:

Well, I've crossed this one off my list! :)
Still 53 things to go!
See you soon! :)*** YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON YOUTUBE, BY CLICKING HERE! :D

*** THANKSSSSSSSS! :D

#46 - Jump on the blob

 
Hey guys! OMG I have so much to post! :D
I don't know if you hear, but my laptop is DEAD! Yes, motherboard stopped working and I need to get a new one, 'cause mine was really old anyway... so until I do that, I've been going online with my boyfriend's iPod... not the best situation, but it's what I have to work with... :(
This stops me from making videos to post here... such a bummer... buuuuuuut today I borrowed a laptop just to do this! So get ready for 5 posts! (More on the waiting list :P)

This post in particular is something I've been trying to do ever since I moved to Europe: The Blob!!!
I saw this on a TV show and knew for sure it had to be on my list!
Basically it's a huge inflated air bag that they place in a lake or a large pool... then you sit on the far end of the bag while another person (preferenciably bigger than you or a couple of people) goes up about 5-10 meters and then jumps on the bag, making you fly into the water :D
Real fun!!!

The thing is, I had to wait for the blob tour to be close to Germany and they just didn't show up for two years! Or they had private events I couldn't take part in...

This year I was planning to travel to the south with a couple of friends... so I checked the Blob calendar and off we went to Seekirchen am Wallersee, in Austria! As Murphy law predicts, right in the middle of a hot summer we had a terribly cold and rainy saturday, as a result, I spent an hour trying to get inside the freezing lake water! I mean, we were by the alps, it's effin' cold up there!

After I got used to the water it actually was really nice and then it was time to jump!!! :D

Since there were only girls with me, I had to find someone bigger to jump on my turn and this HUGE guy volunteered... he said in german laughing "Ready? Destination: moon!" hahahaha Cool guy, I couldn't have asked for a better jumper, this is how you really fly!

Getting on the blob is quite difficult as it's all wet and slippery... but I managed to get to the other side on my second try and shouted I was ready to go. 3... 2... 1... and I didn't even see it coming! Out of nowhere I was flying so high :D
I didn't know what to do with my legs and arms, I look like an idiot on the video hahahaha but it's amazing!!!!!

 The only downside is that I fell on one of my legs and my chest (don't ask me how I managed to do that!), it kindda hurt and left me all red and bruised... my friends had better luck than me and fell gracefully into the water hahahaha Here's the biggest purple bruise I've ever had in my life:

Blobbing is FREE and you can register to jump as much as you want during an hour... kids as young as 12-14 get to jump already.... it's extremely fun! Just hope for better weather than what we had :D

Here's the video:


And here's my friend flying upside down that I mention on the video :D She really mastered this flying thing! :DDD

Well, I've crossed this one off my list! :)
Still 54 things to go!
See you soon! :)

 *** YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON YOUTUBE, BY CLICKING HERE! :D

*** THANKSSSSSSSS! :D

#45 - Drink that liquor with the maggot

YUC! Yes, I did! :P
AND MY BOYFRIEND ATE THE MAGGOT! lol See the video! ;P

Well, there's not much to say about this... it's a destilled alcoholic drink from Mexico that kills maggots. Yes, friends, they throw the poor thing alive in there, to slowly die and be filled with alcohol. So as much as this contradicts my vegetarian principles (even tho I'm not so fond of maggots! lol), it was on my list and I had to try it. It's not something I'll be doing again anytime soon, if ever! hahaha

First I thought it was a tequila that had this maggot. But apparently Mezcal is a different drink, sort of a cheap simpler Tequila. While my beloved Tequila is made out of a special blue Agave, Mezcal can be made from any oven cooked maguey plant. And it tastes a little different as well. It comes usually from Oaxaca in Mexico and they even have a saying regarding the drink "para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien también" (for everything bad, mezcal, and for everything good, as well) :D

As for the drink: Weeeelll... I still like Tequila better, but it's not bad... reminds me a bit of cachaça, from Brazil. It's sweet, but has a weird after-taste... I don't know how to describe it. My boyfriend and I had a brief discussion whether the alcohol tasted weird and filled the maggot or the maggot tasted weird and spread it through the liquor... we will never know! Unless we meet Bear Grylls... lol

But YES, my boyfriend ate the maggot and said it felt like rubber... I videotaped it, much for my disgust! lol And you can watch it here, good luck:

THANKS to my mexican friend Ana who got this for me :)

Well, I've crossed this one off my list! :)
Still 55 things to go!
See you soon! :)

*** YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON YOUTUBE, BY CLICKING HERE! :D

*** THANKSSSSSSSS! :D