Toro Toro Toro

On Monday night I went to bullfight. Why? Because, quite simply, I am living in Spain.
I realize that people in Spain (as well as the rest of the world) are divided in their reactions to bullfighting. Some see it as a barbarous cruelty to animals that must be stopped, but others really enjoy it as an important part of Spanish culture. Even though we had been told we wouldn’t like a bullfight (to which one of my friends responded, why wouldn’t we like something that involves good-looking men), we wanted to experience it for ourselves. Especially since the stereotypical image of Spain pictures bullfighters and flamenco dancers. It worked out especially well to go now because in one of our literature classes we are reading part of a book of letters describing events in Spain such as bullfighting. Two other girls went with me, Amanda and Kim. Here's a picture of Amanda and I, I don't have a good one of the 3 of us.
I must confess I am one of those who enjoyed it. The ambiance is incredibly rich: the arena packed with people, bright colors in the paint and sand, music playing, bullfighters in elaborate suits of gold, green, pink, and blue, the smells and sounds of the crowd, the horses, and of course, the bull. And it is impressive to see the bullfighters agilely step out of the path of the bull. A bullfight really is a dangerous game between brains and force; the bull hurls his thousands of pounds at the bullfighter in anger, while the torero uses his mind to avoid it, plan his moves, learn how the bull reacts, and use that knowledge to put an end to it. Although many people argue that the bulls are defenseless, all those I saw had rather large horns and were pretty intent on killing the bullfighters. There isn’t actually as much blood involved as one might think, and it helps to know that they eat all of the bulls after the fights (there is even a popular tapa here made from bull’s tails). Therefore, while I don’t think bullfighting is the smartest thing to do if you want to live a long healthy life, I'm not against it.
Each bullfight is divided into 3 part s, with music signaling the change. The first part begins with the bull running in and several guys waving pink and yellow capes in front of the bull as it charges. Then the picadors enter riding horses covered in armor. They carry long lance-type things that they use to stab the bull as it charges the horse. During the second part, the bullfighter is on foot alone in the arena with the bull. When he gets the bull in the right position, he runs toward it and stabs 2 banderillas at a time (decorated stick things with sharp ends) in its neck. In the third part, the torero (bullfighter) waves a red cape around, avoiding the bull’s charges before killing it with his sword. If he’s good, the bull dies with the first blow of the sword. If he’s not so great, they have to stab the bull in the head with a knife. When the bull is dead, a team of horses comes in and drags it away. They do this 6 times with 3 bullfighters, so each one fights 2 different bulls. While I wouldn’t like to go all the time, it was a good cultural experience.
Now, dear readers, the next post will depend upon you. While I do have more subjects I could ramble about, I’m not sure what people want to hear. Therefore, I have decided to write a couple “Reader’s Choice" posts. So please leave me comments with questions or topics you would like to know about, and I will do my best to answer you! I love you all!