Since my last post, I have been to the beach and seen a bull fight. I am currently packing for Paris. My plane leaves in 9 hours and I still don't know if it will be cancelled or not. This ridiculous Icelandic volcano has been wreaking havoc on everyone's fun trips they had planned! Such a bummer. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a leeetle bit nervous about potentially flying through volcanic ash...which is apparently made up of tiny shards of glass? eek!
Ok, so on Saturday, Kate and Jeremy and I woke up and decided to go to the beach. Being in Spain is weird. At home, I need at least 2 weeks notice before I do anything, and I'm always working! Here, I just go to the beach like it's no big deal...I kind of like it :)
We got to the train station at 9am and hopped on the first bus headed to a beach...we ended up going to Huelva! After an hour-ish long bus ride, we arrived. It was a bit windy, but we laid out our towels and just relaxed. Our day consisted of laying on the ground, listening to music, eating ice cream sandwiches, and reading books. We literally did nothing productive for 6 hours. It was amazing.
A few days ago, the entire group from Tech went to a bull fight. I was nervous, because I thought it would be hard to watch an animal die. I was right, it was pretty freaking terrible. I understand that bull fights are a part of Spanish culture, but I did not enjoy it at all. It seemed so pointless and unnecessarily violent and old fashioned. However, it was neat to enjoy an authentically Spanish experience and to see the fun costumes the matadors wear (haha). Anyways, I snapped a few pics before my camera died.
It was raining...go figure :)
A few bull fight facts:
- 3 matadors kill 2 bulls each, so 6 bulls die each day.
- Every bull will die, even if they gore a matador
- Every fight begins with multiple matadors waving capes at the bull
- Each fight includes 3 steps:
- 1) Two men on horses stab the bull in its neck muscle (behind the horns) with a spear. Each man stabs the bull twice. The purpose of this is to make the bull lower its head. The bull almost always attacks the horses...this was one of the hardest parts to watch.
- 2) Three men (each with 2 colorful sticks...) stab the sticks into the neck muscle as the bull runs by them. The men must be very quick! The sticks have a point and a hook on the end of them, so they stay in the bull for the rest of the fight.
- 3) The main matador repeatedly gets the bull to run through a red cape. He is supposed to demonstrate his control over the animal during this part. Finally, he stabs a long, curved sword into the back muscle of the bull. The bull keeps running and usually dies after a few steps.
The first bull wasn't really feisty. He just kind of walked around slowly and kept trying to leave the ring, so it was a little heartbreaking when the matador killed him.
The worst part was when the 4th bull came running out. He could smell the blood of the other bulls and was very agitated. He ran for a matador, who hid behind a wooden wall. The bull rammed the wall and broke his horn off! The bull was then left in the arena for 5 minutes by itself, it was so hard to see an animal in so much pain! Eventually, a herd of cows were brought into the arena and the bull followed them out. A different bull was finally brought out to replace him.
If you aren't grossed out enough already...
After a bull dies, a man comes and stabs him between the horns with a knife repeatedly. This was the part that I kept seeing when I tried to sleep that night! I know it sounds dramatic, but bull fights are definitely not my thing! I can now say "I saw a bull fight in Spain"...so that's neat I guess.
Moving on. Here is a random picture of La Giralda a took a few nights ago. I take it for granted so often...this is what I walk by on my way home at night!
So that's what I've been up to! Right now, Feria is going on. It is basically a weeklong party in the streets. Everybody wears awesome ruffly flamenco dresses and eats waffles with ice cream and chocolate syrup on them. Nobody goes to school or works, so it is basically the best week ever :)
Maybe I'll be in Paris in 9 hours...maybe not. We shall see! Either way, I'm determined to enjoy my last 8 (!!!!!) days in Europe.
hasta luego,
julia
p.s. this is what my host mom, Pilar, left me when she left for 3 days...yummy :)
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