Last Sunday (I can't believe it was a week ago already!) a big group of us went to a bull fight! As part of Spanish culture I really wanted to go and see what it was all about, especially being the bull fighting capital of Spain, even though I had been warned it was quite gruesome. We got dressed up (bull fights are considered a really important outing and the people who sit up close to the ring dress up with big hats, kind of like the Kentucky Derby!) and went to the bulling in Seville right down the street from our hostel, the oldest in Spain! We made our way to the seats, which were high up but in the shade which was nice to hide us from the beating sun, and the match began! There first was a parade of all the matadors in their sparkeling costumes and some on big beautiful horses. Then the ring was cleared and before you knew it a bull was charging out! I had no idea what to expect so I sat there anxiously with my hands ready to cover my eyes. The way a bull fight works is in three parts; The first is when the bull is released and runs around the ring with four matadors inside with pink capes. The bull runs around charging after the capes as the matadors hide behind a wooden wall. The second part is when a man comes out on a horse with a large spear (Ah!) This was my least favorite part. On the horse the fighter would stab the bull four times. Majority of the time the bull would angrily attack the horse, stabbing it with their horns. The horse had full body protection on, but it still made all of cringe. Then the matador the fight would come out with three darts. The goal was to get the darts in between the third and fourth rib cage. The closer it was to that, the more points received. At this point the bull is tired and clearly injured, so the red cape comes out and the matador puts on a show, and stabbed the bull with a skinny sword until it would finally fall. There are six bulls used for each fight, so it happens six times. In our case, one of the bulls was not fighting well and fell after being stabbed by the man on the horse just once so the crowd began to chant and the bull was herded out of the ring to be killed in the back. A man who was sitting infront of us explained to us that if a bull is not fighting well that the crowd will do this and a new bull will be broughten out. He also told us that the winning matador of the fight can win up to 400,000 EUROS for just one night. How crazy is that?! It sounds violent, I know, but it was really interesting to see. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it, but it was actually one of my favorite things I have done yet in Europe! It really gave me an inside look into the culture, and even though it was not easy to watch I really appreciated it for what it was as a part of culture rather than slaughtering. And to make the experience even cooler was the fact that it was the week of Feria and so there was bull fights every night of the week when usually during the season they are only on Sundays. It was a great start to a very exciting week!
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| Go Team Bull! |
Feria is the biggest festival in Seville of the year!
Monday night was the big lighting ceremony of the big arc way of the
festival area and all the lights of the street. It was a site to see!
There were tents lining the streets of the area. I had read about the
festival before and saw that the tents were owned by the elite of
Seville and it would be a really big honor to be invited into one and
extremely unlikely. On the other side of the fair is what is called
"Hell Street" where all the rides are. That is where we ended our night
going on rides and having the time of our lives. Going on the ferris
wheel and over looking the whole thing with all the lights was
beautiful! We spent the next couple of days spending all of our free
time there! And it was nice because my professor was in Hungary for the
week, so I didn't have class so it was a week of vacation at the fair
for me! Tuesday a big group of us went back to go on some more rides and
spend the day there. I spent majority of my time (when I wasn't upside
down on a ride!) admiring the beautiful flamenco dresses of all the
girls and women. Everyone was dressed up in tradital flaemnco dresses
with flowers at the top of their heads. I felt totally underdressed for
the occasion. The streets were packed with people and horses. I loved
how people were casually sitting on their horses eating and drinking as
if they were just seats! It was so lucky of us to be here for Feria.
With it being such a relaxed city it gave us some excitement and
something to look forward doing with no class for the week!
There were a couple of excursions the school took us on during the week, but my favorite by far was back to the bull ring. It ended up being a small group of us girls that decided to go so we got a personal tour and an inside look! It was awesome to go back and see up close where we had just been days before and learning more about it. We went into the bottom of the ring where there was a museum explaining the history of bull fighting with capes and even bull heads of famour fights! After they treated us to lunch and we spent the day walking around the City Center doing some souvenir shopping at the special markets the lined the streets for Feria! I got my mom a present from there I've had my eye on for some time now, and I can't wait to give it to her! It was a very productive and fun filled day, one of my favorites in Seville yet!
So that was my crazy last week in Seville! I spent the weekend in Lagos, Portugal which was the cherry on top of Europe, a perfect way to spend my last weekend here! I'll be sure to write about that in the next blog! I just wanted to fill all of you in on my last full week in Seville! It was one for the books! It definitely has made me appreciate where I am a lot more so than before now that I have seen what is most important to them, and to show me more to the Spanish culture than sangria and siestas!
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