Que Barbaridad

So Sunday, we went to our first bullfight. Once again, I WAS NOT PREPARED. Do you have any idea about what goes on in a bullfight? Neither did I. However, I learned fast. I will let photos speak for themselves (mostly).

Before the trauma...

Plaza de Toros

Just like a little pageant

This is Bull # 193, our first bull. At this point I'm thinking, this isn't so bad. It's like what you see on TV. Then SUDDENLY:

I quickly learned that first they run the bull around a little, using pink capes (instead of the red you think of) to attract it, and then the guys hide behind this little protrusions along the wall when the bull they are trying to get to run at them runs at them. Then, two guys on horseback come out and SPEAR the bull in the back with a lance-looking thing. Sometimes, the bull gets pissed and tries to gore the horse, but don't worry, Spaniards actually care about horses so they get lots of protection from potential goring. Then, one brave soul trades his cape for these other spear-y things and the caped guys marshal the bull around so the guy can spear it with colorful lances, which stay in its back the whole time. It's bleeding pretty good by this point. Then the real matador comes out with his red cape (which Paola told me is not because red attracts bulls - they are colorblind - but that it hides the blood stains). He teases the bull and makes it pass like 10-20 times, presumably to a) show his skill and bravery and b) to tire it out and make it bleed more. For the climax, he gets his sword and stabs the bull, right through the back. Then the pink-cape guys have to come back out to run the bull around a little more until it falls down, at which point they sever the spinal cord with a smaller knife. How merciful. Then the cleanup crew comes out, sweeping the dirt to hide the blood and tying the bull to a team of horses, which drags it out of the arena. Repeat five more times, and that's a Corrida de Toros.

I was shocked and could barely watch the spearing and the bleeding, but it is amazing how quickly I became accustomed to it (all except the final sword stab, which continued to be hard to watch). The bulls looked huge, although that could have been because we were in the third row, even though they were little ones (to train the matadors). There were three matadors, each of whom went twice and who also acted as pink-cape dudes for the others. The third matador, whom we called Pink Pants because of his pink pants, was the favorite. We sat right in front of a family that came from the same pueblo, so they were loudly cheering for him. The rest of the spectators agreed, and he got the bull's ear (like a trophy) for a job well done, even though the bull got the better of him at one point.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the bull knocked down one of the matadores and the pink cape guys all ran out to rescue him like rodeo clowns. Pink Pants actually got thrown in the air by the bull's horns, and was covered in the bulls blood because he landed on the bull's back. We also saw matador failure. The 1st matador (4th bull) really could not get the sword into the bull, so he ended up stabbing it like 4 times, with the whole stadium booing and hissing. We pretty much saw the spectrum of bullfighting possibilities...lucky us.

More carnage:

Pink Pants, throwing it down.

Well-protected horses.

This one got knocked over and he ripped his traje de luces (pretty outfit)

Wussy pink-caped dudes

Pink Pants showing off his bull ear