Corrida de Toros

This week I went to my first, and last, traditional Spanish bullfight, known as Corrida de Toros. It was an interesting cultural experience, but certainly not my favorite. Although it wasn’t as violent as I was expecting (meaning there wasn’t a ton of blood and gore), it was still really sad. It hurts watching those magnificent creatures be tortured to death (never mind how I used to pull the wings and legs off grasshoppers and other bugs. I was young and naïve). Just because it’s cultural, doesn’t make it right. I’ll spare you my rantings and instead let you in on how a bullfight actually works.

Bullfighting is thought to have originated in Rome, where human-versus-animal events were often held. It’s spread to Spain then makes perfect sense, since, if you recall, Rome controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula for centuries. The modern form of fighting on foot emerged during the 1700s. During a traditional bullfight, there are three toreros (matadors – this word is really only used in English), who each fights two bulls. They also each have several assistants who aid in weakening the bull before the torero even faces it.

From what I could tell, there are five distinct stages in a bullfight. First, the bull enters the ring and is taunted by several men with gold and magenta capes. This gets the bull running around to begin wearing it down.

Next two picadors, or lancers on horseback, enter the ring. Their goal is to get the bull to charge their horse (which is wearing lots of protective padding, thank goodness!!!) to do two things: learn which side the bull favors and weaken the bull by stabbing it just behind the neck, which will force it to carry its head lower. These first two stages are also a way of proving the bull. If it fights particularly bravely and nobly, the crowd will often call for it to be spared. The bull will leave the ring alive and become a stud bull for the rest of its life. They released two bulls at our fight.

The white bulls are used to draw the other bull out of the ring.

Next come three banderilleros who each try to plant two banderillas (sharp, barbed sticks) into the bull’s shoulders. These sticks serve to further anger and weaken the bull.

The torero now enters the ring with his red cape and sword. This first sword, I believe, is just for show and is not sharp. He will trade out swords before actually killing the bull. Also, the red cape is a matter of tradition. Red does not make bulls angry, because they are, in fact, colorblind. The fourth stage is meant to showcase the torero as he continues to wear out the bull. He uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes that actually look a lot like an intricate dance. This part is known as la faena. He may demonstrate his dominion by caping the bull close to his body. From what I saw, if he could do that four or five times in a row, the audience would usually start clapping and cheering.

You know the final stage has begun when the torero trades out his sword. His goal is now to maneuver the bull into a position where he can stab it between the shoulder blades, though this does not kill the bull instantly. The assistants with the gold and magenta capes return to spin the bull in circles until it falls to its knees and the torero deals it a final blow to the head. Now I think you can understand why I call it torture.

On a brighter (but still kinda sad) note, I have finals in a week and I leave Spain in eight days. Umm, what? Where did the past month and a half go?! I can’t believe it’s gone so fast. But the end (for now) in Spain, means the beginning of a brief adventure in Rome and Germany, which I can barely contain my excitement for. There is not a terrified part of me this time. It’s pure excitement. Still, I’m not getting ahead of myself. I’m going to enjoy this last week in Spain as much as I can, because that’s why I’m here.

El Real Jardín Botánico

Well, there’s not really much to report on this week, since it was only two days long. That’s right, only two days of class. Now that is my kind of schedule. We’re currently chilling in Sevilla (or Seville, as we say in English), but I’ll get to that in another post. In my spare time this “week,” I went to visit El Real Jardín Botánico (the royal botanical gardens) in Madrid and saw Pirates 4… in English. Yes, I know I should be watching it in Spanish, since I’m here to learn Spanish, but you basically lose all the wonders of Johnny Depp if you do that. Then the movie would not have been worth seeing. Eh, it was ok. Mildly entertaining at best. I would wait to Redbox or Netflix it. And that’s all I have to say about that. You’re not reading this for my movie reviews. You’re reading this for my Spain reviews. And let’s be honest, I’m a much better reviewer of Spain than of movies.

So these gardens. They’re full of trees, and flowers, and dirt. You know, normal garden stuff. Ok, so they’re full of very pretty trees, and flowers, and dirt. Oh, and they had calla lilies! That made my day. Other than that, I don’t really have too much to tell about them. Our group went on its own (free on Monday, after 6:00 PM, for students!), so we didn’t have a guide or anything to show us the secrets of this garden. We just walked around, enjoying the foliage and taking lots of cheesy pictures, because that’s what you do in gardens I guess. I’ll let my pictures do the talking.

¡Qué riquísimo!

First, let’s all shout hooray for having the internet! Now I don’t have to stay up until 1:00 AM writing blog posts so I can post them at school the next day. Actually, it was set up on Saturday, so I haven’t had to do that since then. Before, I was mooching internet from La Plaza de Cervantes and the school. It’s kinda sad how crippled I feel without my phone or the internet all the time. No, not kinda sad. It is sad. It’s slightly ridiculous how dependent on technology I am. But, I justify it by remembering that I use it to keep in touch with those that matter most. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about the pros and cons of technology. I’ll leave that to someone else. I want to share a little about the food of España, a much more interesting topic I think.

The eating schedule here is a little different, or a lot different. We eat breakfast around 8:00 or 9:00. Pretty normal. Then we don’t have lunch until 2:00 or 3:00, and dinner isn’t until at least 9:00. Some families even eat at midnight! Don’t worry, we don’t starve in between lunch and dinner. Generally, that’s the time to have a little merienda (snack) or eat tapas!

All the food here is so rich! It’s rich and heavy. I love it, haha. And everything is drenched in olive oil. And a lot of it is fried. Hmmm, sounds like America. Except people here walk a lot more, so obesity is not such a problem. Spaniards love their meat. And seafood. And bread. We eat bread with every lunch and dinner. It’s a good thing I kind of really like bread! They also love little, sweet things (hey, me too!). We have this drawer full of dulces that we just eat whenever. Yeah, I’m definitely going to have to work to keep my girlish figure. ¿Quién quiere correr conmigo? Nice alliteration! After every meal, we have either some fruit or some yogurt for dessert. So there, I’m getting my healthy eating in too.

Breakfast here usually consists of coffee and some sort of grain-based food, whether cereal or muffins or little graham-cracker-type cookies. Since we’re not coffee drinkers, Erin and I drink leche con chocolate (basically cold hot chocolate). We also have dulces with breakfast. Lunch and dinner are backwards here. Lunch is the largest meal of the day, which actually makes more sense if you think about it. You need more energy during the day than at night, although there is the food coma immediately following a big meal. That must be why they have a siesta! It’s all coming together now. For lunch we eat things like soup, fish or chicken fillets, and all sorts of salads. I don’t think they eat a lot of beef here. It’s mostly fish, chicken, and pork. Dinner is definitely reminiscent of American lunches. We eat little finger foods and sandwiches. It’s a pretty light meal, usually consisting of bread (of course), thin strips of meat, and cheese, or fried fish nuggets, or empanadas. Mari is an excellent cook and she’s going to make us the famous paella and tortilla española. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into that!

Tapas.

Breakfast!

Paella. Mmmmmm.

Today we went out and ate churros con chocolate. It was pretty delicious and a recipe I need to find and share. The consistency of the chocolate is sort of like pudding. That’s the closest comparison I can think of. Except, it’s a little more runny than pudding. But not runny like liquid. Lava. I’ll go with that. It has the consistency of lava, not that I’ve ever actually felt lava. Just humor me here.

Yes. I ate the entire thing.

What else have I been doing? Well, we don’t have another trip until this Friday so we’ve been seeking our own adventures. I had my second day of class today. I’ve been here a week and only had class twice. My kind of schedule. I haven’t even started the Spanish grammar class yet! Yesterday, a bunch of us went up to Madrid. We wandered through El Parque del Buen Retiro and paddled around in some boats. It reminded me a lot of Central Park.

We stood in front of La Puerta del Sol, the very center of Spain, where the 0 km mark is.

We ate lunch in La Plaza Mayor. Well, I ate before and just got some water, which cost me three Euros!!! Are you kidding?! Yeah, I didn’t know that when I bought it. Others got little pizzas that cost 14 Euros each. Lesson learned: do not buy food in La Plaza Mayor.

We also visited La Catedral de La Almudena. This one I got to take pictures in! So beautiful.

Last but not least, El Palacio Real de Madrid and its gardens. We plan on returning and going inside. Yesterday was Worker’s Day in Spain (which is why we didn’t have class) and lots of sites were closed.

I went to a Catholic misa today as well. It was a very interesting experience. There was a lot of reciting by the entire congregation, standing up and down, and only the priest took the sacrament. I can see why people think the LDS church is so different. Everyone participates in the meetings. Everyone takes the sacrament. We don’t have a priest, in the sense of other churches. We really are a peculiar people. I love it.

I already feel like I’m becoming a better person. I’m gaining more confidence, more tolerance, greater love for people everywhere, greater adaptability. And I’m having lots of fun while I’m at it. Thinking about doing a study abroad? Do it. It will be the best decision of your life.

Vamos a Madrid

First day of class? Piece of cake. And no homework to boot. Mondays and Wednesdays, I have Spanish grammar. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have Iberian civilization and culture. We start at 1000 BC and work our way up. That class is especially useful here because on our trips we visit many of the places we discuss. Talk about visual learning.

Today as a group, we went on a visit to Madrid. When traveling in groups of 35, it’s very difficult to not look like tourists, especially when all of us stop at the same time to take a picture of the same building or statue. So much for blending in. Ah, well. This little trip was mostly to help us get familiar with the ferrocarril (train) system. Starting on May 1, we’ll each have a pass that lets us take the bus and trains around Madrid and Alcalá for free. Well, not for free. We did pay for those passes. But you know what I mean. It takes around 30 minutes to get from Alcalá to Madrid. We weren’t there too long. Maybe three hours. We visited El Palacio de Cibeles and El Prado.

That’s right. I was in a palace today. I told the guy I’d take it, but his asking price was too high for my budget. Maybe some other time. Anyway, I’m honestly not sure what purpose this particular palace (there are many) serves or served. It was beautiful though. The architecture of every building here is incredible.

El Prado is a museum of art that houses the works of artists such as Velázquez, de Goya, and el Greco (click here to see some of their work). I have so much respect for these artists who can create such amazing works of art. I can’t even comprehend the skill, talent, and patience that it takes to create just one of those paintings or sculptures. I’ll be honest though, I’m not really one of those sit-down-and-interpret-the-painting kinda people. I can appreciate the work for what it is and move on to the next in the space of five seconds. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy these museums. I mean, come on, seeing the original “Las Meninas” was pretty cool.

I have a confession. I’ve been speaking a lot of English. I know, I know, why haven’t they sent me packing yet? Well, it’s just when we’re with other members of our group that it’s hard to speak in Spanish (it’s not just me!). I feel like I have no personality in Spanish, and many other students feel the same way. I can’t be goofy, or funny, or sarcastic. It’s hard to express myself. So I think as we’re trying to get to know our fellow travelers, we use more English so we don’t come across as a bunch of dull people. Don’t worry, I still use plenty of Spanish at school and en casa and around the city with the natives. But I’m working on avoiding English and so is everyone else. I want to be a more better speaker of Spanish! (I'm picturing my mom and brother when I say this)

Here’s a little taste of Madrid!