Bull Fight.

Tuesday July 17, 2007

I walked to class with Jordan and Lisa. Conversation and grammar were good. I thought I actually learned some stuff. After class I worked at the center for a little while then went home. I got my camera and went to the las fallas museum with Lisa. We got to see some of the displays they use in their parades, but it was not as good as the other museum. I came home and found dinner already prepared so I ate by the tv and watched Lilo and Stitch. My madre’s sun-in-law came by to walk the dog and said that madre was in the hospital. I was confused because I did not understand why he said she was there. I finished the movie and did some work. Jordan came home than madre. I guess she was not in the hospital long. I did not understand the medical terms she was using. I got a postcard from my mom from the beach. I like getting mail. I did some more work and decided to call my parents. They were both at work and we talked for a few minutes. It was good to catch up. Jordan and I ended up watching some Mary Kate and Ashley move on tv in Spanish. It was ok, but I was tired and went to bed early.

Wednesday July 18, 2007

We mainly just reviewed for tests in my grammar and conversation classes. After classes I had lunch with some other students outside of the school and then went to study with Matt for the grammar test. I came back to school to study for my conversation test which was just a lot of vocabulary. I walked home and madre was taking a nap. Since she was asleep I raided her refrigerator because I was starving. I had a snack and started to watch There´s Something about Mary. Madre woke up and the movie was stupid so I cut it off. I met up with Ben and Matt to walk to the the plaza de toros (Bull fight arena) to see the bull fight. We got there a little early, but it was cool to see everything get set up. The setting reminded me of a UVA football game, but a lot different. We had seats in the sun and we baked. It was really hot. It was 7pm, but the sun does not set until after 9:30 here. The bull fight was unlike anything I have ever been to in my life. There are 6 rounds, but each round begins with a pissed off bull running out into the arena. Then men in the arena wave their capes to get the bull to run around and loose energy. Next 2 guys on a horse come out to stab the bull. The horses are wearing protection, but the bull’s boar the horse with their horns for a while and the men on the horse stab the bulls in their back with a long sharp wooden stick. The bull starts to bleed profusely and thus begins the next round. In this round 3 men, each with 2 sharp objects, get up close the bull and just as they are about to be bored by the bull they jump in the air and stab the bull with the 2 sharp objects. By this time the bull is weaker from loosing all the blood and the next round begins. The matador comes out and after teasing the bull several times he jumps in the air stabs the bull with a long sword which leads to the bull’s eminent death. The bull falls to the ground and is stabbed in the brain to make sure it is dead. The whole thing is very graphic. Two horses come out and drag the bull out of the arena. This entire process is repeated for 6 bulls. Between 2 of the rounds some of us decided to see what they do with the bulls. In a matter of seconds after the bull is dragged out of the arena butchers begin their work. The bull’s legs are chopped off with an ax, and then the bull is skinned. They take an ax to chop open the ribs and proceeded to cut out all the organs. They chop off the head and by this time only the meat is left so they hang it is a truck with all of the other butchered bulls to be taken away. It was very fascinating and very graphic at the same time. I went back to watch the rest of the bull fight and then went home for dinner. Surprisingly I was still hungry. I had to finish studying for my tests and ended up studying until 3am. It was a long night, but I had to study for my tests.