Ronda and Granada

Hi all!

So since I've been back I've actually already been on another trip!! haha I know, I travel too much.  AIFS took us on a day trip to Ronda, a cute little town outside Granada.  Well, it was supposed to be an excellent trip but we ended up getting rained on...hardcore.  When I say it rained, it poured and I almost felt like I was in a hurricane at some points.  Our trip to Sacromonte got rained out the day before so we were expecting the rain, which is a shame because Ronda is supposed to be really pretty when it's nice out. 

Either way Ronda was fun to visit.  I didn't know this, because I didn't read Ferdinand and the Bull, but apparently the bridge from that book is located in Ronda.  It's also a really old bridge, well new compared to the older ones.  That bridge was built twice, because the first one collapsed very shortly after it was built, so they rebuilt a better sturdier one.  The views in Ronda are really pretty, but the rain was very hindering.  Our poor tour guide felt so bad because he loves Ronda but you just can't appreciate it when you're cold and wet.  Some girls succumbed to buying those stupid ponchos because nothing was keeping the rain away from us.  Some went without umbrellas and one girl had bought one on the streets in Granada but that thing kicked the bucket by the end of the day.  The wind was crazy and all of our umbrellas got turned inside out.  One our AIFS directors had hers turn inside out and it was very comical watching her struggle with it. 

Plaza de Torros

We also got to the see the bullring that's in Ronda.  It's one of the oldest and is really cool.  It made me really excited for my bullfight that I'm going to in May.  Granted I'm kind of scared, but I'm it'll be fun to experience something like that.  It finally stopped raining when we got to the bullring and our guide explained the bullfights to us and showed us parts of the ring.  He showed us where they keep the bulls and how they actually have to have 6 bulls when they do fights.  Each torero fights 2 bulls but they need to have two extra bulls in case one of the bulls don't feel like fighting and just stand there and stare at the wall. 

Where they keep the bulls

 

 

The bulls also aren't allowed to see people before they go out into the ring because they learn very quickly what a person looks like versus the flag that the torero waves around.  The bulls also live very full lives before they fight.  They live to be like 6 years old and then get ready for the fights.  Fights don't last longer than 20 min (that's actually considered too long) because the goal is to kill the bull quickly and painlessly.  Bullfights (una corrida de torros) are also very expensive so it's impressive if a town has more than one.  Each bull is about 4000 euro, times that by 6 for each of the bulls and then the three toreros that fight each make close to 100.000 euro.  So put that all together and that's a lot of money.  But honestly, if I was a bullfighter I'd want to make a ton of money for putting my life in danger too!!

We also got to visit a cathedral in Ronda, shocking!  But this one was just as pretty as the rest.  It also has a really cool history.  Half of the cathedral is Gothic style and the other half is Renaissance style.  When the cathedral was built the Gothic style was in, but then part of it fell down from I think an earthquake.  So when they went to rebuild it the Gothic style was out and Renaissance was in.  So you have a mixture where the two meet.  Also, the choir is right in the middle of the church, which severely hinders being able to celebrate and see mass.  Because of this anomaly they say that they are "going to hear mass" instead of going to mass.  They also speculate that it was built this way for the privileged to sit up close and the poor had to sit behind the choir. 

That was pretty much it for our trip though.  We wanted to get out there as quickly as possible because we were tired, wet and cold.  So we got back to Granada earlier than expected, around 5 and all went home to clean up.  I met with a friend from school that night.  Kim is studying in Sevilla and was here for the weekend so I took her and her friends out the a local tapas bar and bar here.  We had a lot of fun and it was great to see a familiar face when I've been feeling so homesick. 

I also just needed to share that we had one of my favorite soups today for lunch!  I took a picture of it because I wanted to share with you.  I'm going to try to get the recipe for it because I want to make it at home.  :)  It's got some potatos, beef and some other stuff in it.  We had that and friend fish, it was such a good lunch. 

I also saw some interesting things today.  Today has been an all around interesting day.  On my walk home I saw a man dressed in a very interesting outfit.  It was all black and he had like a zorro cape on his shoulder and his outfit was full of badges.  I was so confused and ask my senora.  She said that he's part of some group of singers here that are known for that kind of thing.  They wear that outfit when they perform or when it's a special day for one of it's members.  Either way I was very thrown off and found myself staring.  I wish I had my camera. haha.  I also was reminded that I live in a city today.  On my walk home someone dropped his wallet out of his pants pocket.  I and three other people went to tell him that he dropped it and the guy in front of me leaned over to pick up.  I assumed the guy was going to give it back to the guy but instead he took off running.  The guy who dropped the wallet turned around when we called to him and saw the guy take off so he took off running after him and yelling.  I felt really bad for him and was reminded once again that I live in a city where people will steal your things instead of be nice and tell you you dropped something.  :( 

That's pretty much been my day.  I spent most of it updating my blog for you guys and for myself.  This weekend I'm meeting with Manolo and Maria again, my intercambio Spainard friends and it's my 21st birthday on Saturday.  So scary! I can't believe I'm turning 21, and away from everyone. 

Until my next post,
Love you all!