The night i turned into a strawberry

by María Sol Buscaglia (Argentina)

A leap into the unknown Spain

When i sat on my bus seat i didn´t know i was about to live one of the craziest nights of my life. I was with new friends, living across the world in Barcelona for 6 months and about to go on a weekend trip to Sitges for Carnival. We heard the parade there was from another world. Mafer, my new best friend, sat beside me and Mica in front of us. Mafer takes out a marker and tells us we´d better write out numbers on our arm. As if we were going to a Proyect X party I rolled my eyes but wrote my number anyway just to go with the fun. The bus, full with exchange students with different customs and Carnival props, arrived and my group and I –about 12 people- gathered to see what our plans where. The bus coordinator tells everyone to be there at 1am, “the bus leaves with the people who is here”. Sitges was vibrant, with crowded streets and bars. People with customes, booze and loud music everywhere. I smile, already happy with today. It was 2pm and the parade was scheduled to start at 6pm so we decided to go to the beach for a while. It wasn’t summer but the weather was really nice so we hanged out there with some beers and music, talking about anything, and around 6pm we went to the streets. As the Carnival floats passed by, our mouths hanged open. They were breathtaking! Colorful, enormous and extravagant. And the dancers definitely professionals, hips definitely don’t lie! I wished I could dance like that. Everyone cheered the parade and danced. We were over the moon having the time of our lives. After it was finished, we walked through the slim streets and the group started to spread. Mafer, Mica and I stayed together and we decided to eat a burger and hit the dance floor of one of the bars. As we were dancing, three guys approach us and start to dance with us. 30 minutes later we were having drinks with them and they wanted to take us “bar hopping”. They were locals and wanted to show us the “Sitges magic”, as they named it. And so there we were, jumping from bar to bar, drinking in some of them and taking a break on others. As we were going from one bar to another, something catches my eye beside a tree so I went to see what it was. I frown and take it, and Mafer giggles as she sees what it was: a strawberry custome! And it was huge. I put it on and everyone started to laugh as well as me. She took a picture and showed it to me. I looked like the girl who chose a bad custome for a Halloween party. As Mafer puts her phone down, she looks at the screen and yells “It´s quarter to one!” We started to panic; we knew we were far from the bus and not going to make it. The guys didn’t get what was going on, and after we explained them, one of them told us to follow him, and that the best way to get there was to go through the beach. We started running, and we heard a girl screaming and following us. We didn’t understand what her problem was until she said “that is my strawberry!” and I realized I was still on the custome! I started doubting what to do but Mica yells at me that she was also on the bus, so I continue running, deciding to give it back to her there. She was the one who threw it away on the first place! After what seemed like a marathon, we got to the bus. I looked at my phone: 12:58am. That was close. We exchanged numbers with the boys and got in the bus. I plop in my seat and close my eyes. The bus start moving and i smile. Who would have thought I was going to finish the night with new friends from Sitges and dressed like a huge red strawberry?