Sean

10th of July, 2006
This weekend in HOT HOT Valencia, El Papa (the pope) was in town. There was yellow everywhere, since that is the popes color. I am not sure what the numbers were on how many people came, but i am sure it numbered in the thousands. On Saturday, July 8th, a few of us went on a excursion to Peninscola. It used to be a island fortress,
and we got a tour of the fortress. It was pretty interesting because people have just built inside the castle walls. Most of the city was closed to most traffic because of the pope.
When in Valencia you get used walking everywhere. Walking 30 mins is the norm here, you just get used to it. We had to walk a hour to one of our activities. Im sure we are all getting into better shape here. The pope was at the Arts and Sciences city, which is one of my pictures. The picture is of the city at night. It is very big. It has a Concert Hall,
which is not in the picture, and is not open yet. The big eyeball looking thing is a Planetarium, Imax Theatre and a Laserium. Not sure  what a laserium is. The other parts are a interactive science museum and a sort of small aquarium. I havent been yet but all of us are planning to go sometime soon. My other picture is of the Train Station, Estacion del Norte. Most everyone arrived at the train station and walked to their houses.

Another picture I HAD to post was on that i took the day that i arrived. It seems that the big church here has its own Saint. The Saint of Valencia. The weird thing is that they have his upper arm in a kind of display case. Its all mumified and very weird.


So this weekend we went to the a bullfight at the Plaza del Toros. It was a interesting experience. First off we bought tickets for 11 euros that were "sun" seats meaning that they were in the sun. So for the first hour at the bullring we baked. The bullfight itself was not as interesting as i thought. First off I had NO idea that they actually killed the bull. I thought they just did the matador thing and that was it. What they actually do is bring out the bull with a metal spike already in its back and the bull gets really pissed and comes out into the arena very pissed. Then he goes after some of the matador- wannabes (guys who are dressed like the matador but aren't, and there are about 5-6 of these guys) and when the bull starts charging after them and gets close they duck behind a wall. Pretty cheap. So after a few minutes of this, they start attaching these fish hook like things to the back of the bull to make it start oozing blood. They attach about 6 of these things and then the matador comes out. So, the bull has 6 things attached to his back which i am sure is pretty painful and is loosing about a gallon of blood. So the bull now is in pretty bad shape and then the amazing, ballsy and macho matador walks out. Yeah, not too convincing to me. So the matador does his thing, which might be impressive if the bull was still at 100% and not loosing a litre of blood a minute. So then after about 10 minutes of the matador playing with a dying bull, he gets his sword out and charges at the bull and impales it into the top of his back. Then the bull staggers into a corner and the wannabe - matadors surround him and "attack" him from both sides so her goes back and forth, back and forth until he hits the ground and then rolls over dead. Half the time in these last moments blood starts gushing from the bulls mouth. Then, to make sure the bull is dead, some guy comes out with about a 10 inch knife and sticks it into the back of the bulls skull and twists it around while the bull starts twitching around.

This really is not what i thought i was getting myself into. Needless to say i was quite disturbed by this event. One of my friends started talking to some of the locals in the arena and started telling them that he was rooting for the bull. They did not take too kindly to this as they late moved down to some other seats. Do I regret going to the bullfight? No, i don't think so. This is one of the main cultural icons of Spain, although I am not sure why.

Will I go to another bullfight if I come back to Spain? No. Once in a life is enough.

The pictures I have of the bullfight are representative. Some of them are pretty gory.

The matador - wannabees always have a pink capotes
The matador has a red capote.

Also, here are some terms.

Bullfighting terms
Muleta - A small red cloth stretched over a stick (Palo)
Capote - The red cape
Paseillo - The parade of fighters at the beginning
Corrida - A Bullfighting show
Espada - The matador's sword also called the ESTOQUE
Matador - The top bullfighter
Novilladas - Beginners fights
Rejoneadores - Horse-mounted fighters
Toril - Enclosure for the bulls
Picador - Fighter to weaken the bull
Banderillas - Barbed darts on coloured shafts placed into the bull's shoulders
Puntilla - A dagger that is stabbed into the base of the bull's skull
Puerta - grande The main door to the arena
Gradas - Highest seats at the back of the ring (cheapest seats)
Barreras - Front seats
Sol/Sombra Sun/Shade - the choice as to where you sit
Plaza de Toros - Bullring