Bullfight

To top off the oh so educational and cultural weekend, we went to a bullfight (una corrida). In Spanish Culture and Civilization class last week, my teacher explained the elements and significance to the bullfight- I had some idea of what was happening. I learned the terminology in Spanish so it's difficult to translate, but I'll explain a little bit. There are 3 rounds to a "fight" and there were 6 fights on Sunday. 6 bulls were killed. First, bullfighters are known as toreros and the main torero (the one who makes all of the money) has many amateur toreros who perform before him; his understudies- if you will.

Round 1: the bull is let loose in the ring, charging in all directions and at the moving toreros. The main torero doesn't enter the ring until the 3rd round. The amateur toreros jump behind mini walls until the bull learns they have an escape. Slowly, the bull learns he cannot charge from across the ring and they "train" him to come closer. It's a myth that the bull charges at the cape because it is red. Bulls are color blind, but are attracted to movement. Also in this round, a man on a horse enters the ring. The horse has protective covering (recently added in the 60's... before the horse was literally gouged by the bull) and the man has a long pole with a sharp point on the end for which he stabs the bull on top of his back. The point of contact is important, if inserted correctly, the bull cannot fully raise its head or horns.
Round 2: 3 different toreros insert 6 (2 each) "banderillas" (arm-length sticks with sharp points on the end), into the same tender spot on the back of the bull. Blood begins to drip all over the bulls back and he becomes weaker and weaker.

Round 3: The main torero enters the ring. The object for the torero is to "dance" and "control" the bull, making the bull pass as close to the torero's body as possible, without being gouged! The torero must remain extremely calm and make smooth, solid motions. Once the bull is in proper positioning, the torero inserts one large dagger all the way in to the exact same spot on the bulls back. If done correctly, the bull falls within a few seconds and dies. THEN, the bull is tied to 2 horses (with decorative harnesses) and dragged around the ring then taken out (like a show pony or something).

This is only 1 of 6 parts of the production. The same is repeated for another 5 bulls. After the first bull, I was ready to leave. It made me sick to my stomach to watch the bull continually being punctured in the same spot and grow weaker and weaker. He was in pain and it was obvious. The worst part- if one of the toreros missed his mark or a banderilla fell out of the bull's back immediately, he was given MORE banderillas, to try again. There wasn't an option for the bull to win. That was the most aggravating part for me. Some defenses say, "It’s either the bull or the torero that die". Untrue. Even if the torero was injured, they kill the bull anyway.

Originally, it was a right of passage. For a boy to become a man, he must kill a bull -the most dangerous animal in Europe. It also exemplifies male supremacy in Spanish culture. The bull symbolizes a woman: fertility- as his blood drips back in to the earth and inferiority- dying at the feet of men. Sounds crazy, I know, but according to our text, it’s the origin of the Corridas! To me, it's an elaborate, gory and pompous demonstration of man "controlling" beast. I'm not a fan.

However, there were a few parts I liked. The first part of round 3, when the bull made passes by the torero, was enjoyable. If done correctly, it actually resembled dancing! I also liked the very beginning of round 1, when the bull ran into the ring and would charge at everything in sight. (My friends got mad when I made this analogy but..) The bull reminded me of a really big, 3000 pound puppy (when their feet are too big and they haven’t figured out how to control their bodies!). Due to their massive size, bulls can’t make sharp turns or quick movements and they stumble over their feet a lot. They were so clumsy! And then, they’d kick dirt backwards, getting really angry, and charge straight into a wall because they simply did not know any better…. like a puppy always runs into a glass door.

To make it worse, during some of the passes, the bull would try to jump up at the moving cape, but, he’s enormous and didn’t make it very far. It reminded me of when you tease a dog with their toy and they try to jump up but can never get it! Like I said, my friends didn’t enjoy this analogy very much, especially once round 3 ended and the bull became a show pony. Obviously, dogs are 2,975 lbs less and don’t have massive, deadly horns, but their mannerisms are so similar! (I realize my over-analyzation… but bare with me, it’s uncontrollable!)

One thing that was obvious was the genre of the crowd. The majority was older couples and very, very few young people (minus the US students and tourists). By the size of the crowd, you could say that it is a dying sport. However, knowing that some toreros make 5 million Euros a year and are nationally recognizable, I think the sport has a while before it will die out. By the 3rd bull, I figured out how to watch the beginning parts of round 1 and 3 and avoid all of the stabbing and blood slashing. Especially when the bull coughed blood, I couldn’t handle it. My stomach was still in knots a few hours after we left. It was interesting to see an old, traditional and culturally different sport, but I do not plan to attend another corrida. I could not pay to support this sport again.

Well, this weekend will be much different. I am going to visit some family in southern France! My Grandpa Johno is from the Basque region in France (there is a big difference b/w French-Basque and Spanish-Basque people!) and some of the family still live in the area. I'm going to stay with Grandpa's brother's daughter in St. Jean du Port! Kaitlin is coming with me too! We are taking the train from San Sebastián to Bayonne and Josette will be picking us up in Bayonne... she said it's a 1 hour drive to St Jean! Some of the family came to the US last October and I got to meet them. I'm really excited to meet more of the family and to stay with them. Josette lives on a farm and milks the cows, herself, every day... this should be fun!!!