collinste1

So this weekend was full of activity. On friday I went to one of the girl's in the programs apartment for a small get together, which was nice. I had to take it fairly easy because I had a rugby game the following day. But most of us wanted to see the sox game, so we went to an Irish pub around 2, knowing the game would be starting around 2:30am our time here in Spain. It started at 8:30pm east coast time. We only got to see 2 innings before the pub closed, so that was disappointing, though the sox did win that night. I actually now have access to watch the games online, which I am pretty excited for. So I saw most of the game saturday night, though they lost. And will get to see the game tonight, which if I Was at home, I would be attending because my brother has tickets :-(



(Cait)


(cordae)


Un Guapo (*hint hint Becks*)




My rugby game on saturday was in a town called Toledo, Spain. It is a picturesque town 70km south of Madrid. It is well known for its historic Christian, Jewish, and Moorish culture and is the producer of a lot of famous artists. Actually, if you go into the cathedral in Toledo, a prominent and important architectural building in town, you can find some very old and very famous paintings - ones you have probably studied if you took art history. I however, did not get to go into the cathedral or castle (Toledo was a capital city in Spain back in the day) because my tim was spent playing rugby and then going to the social following the game for a short while.

We lost the game. I played pretty badly. And it was actually a fairly brutal game. The score was 24-12...so not a blow out. We actually won the second half, we just did not do very well during the first half. So the Toledo Rugby Club scored 4 times in the first half, with 2 conversions. We scored 2 times in the second half, with one conversion. And that was the game.



I did not take this pic - it just happens to be a nice one of Toledo:


This one I did take - it is the pitch with the city right up behind it:








On sunday, October 12th, Dia de Hispanidad was celebrated. That translates to "Day of the Spanishness". So there was a big parade that involved the King and Queen and the prince/princess. However, I missed the parade (and I am kind of glad I did - I heard it was not the greatest parade in the world), but celebrated the day by going to a bullfight with some of the people in my program.

Bullfighting is very controversial, but a huge tradition here in Spain. From what I have heard (I talked to teachers at school about it today), it is on the decline. But some people really really enjoy it, such as one of my good friends that I have made here in Madrid. His family is really into the tradition and he really likes the show of it all. I was texting him during the bullfighting to ask what things meant and why people reacted a certain way. I will explain more when you see the pictures.

So with this introduction to bullfighting, I will warn you before you look at the pictures: Bullfighting involves real live bulls being killed - so these pictures are bloody and cruel. If you have a weak stomach or are a PETA activist, I suggest you do not look at them . I will let you see the pictures, then give my opinion on the whole event.



Sound some dramatic music - it is the entrance to the bull ring:






Karey and myself inside the exterior part of the stadium:


And Nina and myself:


Karey and Nina look scared and they probably should be, we had no idea we were about to witness such traumatic events:


The bullring:


I want to be a bullfighte...nottt:


The Matadors:


Opening Ceremonies:


Olé!


The bulllll!!!!


1. So I will explain the process - the bull comes in. Here Bully bull bull, come and get it:


2. The bull charges the matadors who are out there to get his attention. There are quite a few matadors who participate. And later a main matador will come out to do the dirty work.


3. A horn blows and 2 horses with a man on it comes into the ring. The matadors trap the bull so that the horse, wearing a yellow suit of armor catches the bulls attention. So the bull charges the horse and hits it, but the horse is protected and supposably doesn't get hurt. I mean the horse marches off with no limp or anything, so I assume it is fine. Anyways,as the bull hits the horse the man on the horse stabs it with a long stick with a blade on it. This happens a couple of times, then the horn blows again and the horses march off.


4. So next matadors come out with these 2 little stick things that have foam around the top, and a blade at the bottom. They go into the middle of the ring and get the bulls attention. The bull then charges the preson and he magically jumps out of the way and throws these 2 blades into the bull...and then they just chill there as the bull runs around. Maybe 6 of them make it into the bull:




5. So then the big matador comes out. I believe this one was the best of the day. He has the red cape and he plays with the bull a bit. Then he has a sword and at some point he points it at the bull and the bull charges and he jumps up and stabs it all the way into the bull. This will happen more then once if the bull is still strong. Or more than likely, the bull will kneel down, which is really just very sad. And then the other matadores come around and stab it lots with this other knife.


6. The bull dies...a really sad part of the whole affair:


7. So if the matador has done an exceptional job, the crowd gives a standing ovation and waves these white towels or flags. I asked about this to my friend who really enjoys bull fighting. His text back to me was confusing, but it had something to do with the ears of the bull. Depending on what hand the towel is in or how many or something is a sign of how many ears to cut off, and some times the tail for the matador to get. I suppose it is kind of a like a prize or something. Anyways, it only happened once during this bullfight (I saw 6 different bulls).




Time to go home....finally:








Am I glad I went to the bull fight? I think I best described it by saying I would of rather been at a restaurant eating a burger. Hypocritical maybe, but true. I am happy to say I saw the tradition. But more happy to say I will never go to another. It sucked the life out of me. I don't think I have been in a worst mood ever than after seeing that display of cruelty in person....if you know what I am like when I am in a bad mood, you are probably thankful you were not around me. It was literally the grossest thing I have seen. And I felt really bad for the bull, maybe a little bad for the horse too. Not for the matador...which one of them got knicked by a horn, but there was no serious damage there. As in he is still living and the bull is not.

This week had a pretty good start, though I was really tired after school today and slept right through my Spanish class, so I did not go. Which is bad! I really am just living for the weekends at the moment...and another rugby game to come this weekend! So that should be good. I do enjoy the team more as I see them. I hope I start playing better. A lot of it probably has to do with not being able to go to practice. I will keep you updated.

I will leave you with some exciting news. Today a few of us booked a trip to Rome. I am going for the end of October, because we have Halloween off. So it is a long weekend. I am really excited!