¡Olé!

¡Olé!  They actually say that at the bullfights.  I was surprised, and really excited at the same time when I heard people shouting Olé!  Last Tuesday I went to the bull fight that was being held here in Granada.  It was a benefit for Down Syndrom, so the tickets were really cheap and they brought good toreros (Bull fighters) and it was a really fun experience.

READER DESECRATION ADVISED: If you are a lover of animals or don't feel like you can read or look at some of these photos just skip this post.  I'm actually going to post my pictures and videos, so just be aware that you will be reading about bulls dying...sorry.

Abby, Jessy, Julia, Kelsey, Me

So onwards!  I hate to say it guys...but I'm an aficionado (a fan) of bull fights.  I just had so much fun, and was able to deal with the fact that bulls were being killed.  The whole sport really is an art though, and you have to have some sort of respect for these toreros who put their life in danger.  It started at 6, so I sprinted to the Plaza de Torros after my senora scared the crap out of me and told me I wouldn't get able to get in after it started.  Well, this was false, but I'm glad I got there at the beginning anyways.  I met all my friends there.  We had great seats in the sun and were able to see really well.  Besides the pole that was constantly in my way and me having to get up every 15 min to let people pass, it was a good seat, haha.  Abby also had an aficionado sitting right next to her being really enthusiastic the whole time, so we were able to ask her any questions we had about the whole thing.  Most of it we picked up on though, it's not hard to figure out why they do a lot of things.

So all in all they had 6 toreros, so the bull fight lasted a while.  The first one was a pretty good bull and it died pretty quickly.  The torero was pretty good, in my opinion, the second guy wasn't too good because it took a while for the bull to die and it was super bloody, which I didn't like.  The third guy was better though and the bull died on the fights stab, which is the goal, you want to put it out of it's misery as quickly as possible.  The fourth was terrible because the bull suffered forever and I couldn't watch it.  By the time the fifth guy came around I was getting into it but getting tired and didn't want to stay fro the sixth.  We also found out that the final torero was a young guy, a new torero.  You don't want to watch the newer ones because they aren't as experienced and they usually don't kill the bulls very quickly.  So it's hard to watch, especially if you're not super into it in the first place.  So I just stayed for the beginning and left before it really got going.

But let me give you the DL on how these work.  So they start off pretty much how you'd expect them too.  They open the doors and out comes running a big giant bull!  Ahhh!!  The bulls all vary in size, some bigger than others.  The biggest one I think we saw was like 464 Kilos, which is about 1022lbs (that's huge!)  The torero is in the ring with about 4 other guys who all have the capes and are trying to get the bull to come at them.  They have little barriers though that they get to hide behind.  It's actually almost comical watching them get the bull to go towards them, and then watch them run behind the barrier to protect themselves.

Then they bring out horses to the ring and they kind of drive a stake into the bull to tire him out.  They want to tire out the bull so he's not as dangerous to the torero and so it's easier to kill him.  So they bring horses out in giant pieces of armor and herd the bull over towards one of the horses.  At first it was really scary because the bull was butting his horns towards a horse, but they have like metal protecting them and it goes down really far, so the horses are fine.  They also blindfold them, so the horses don't freak out when they see that they're in a ring with a bull.

After the torero puts decorative stakes into the bulls back.  I'm actually not really sure what the purpose of them are.  I think it's part decoration and part to tire out the bull some more.  It's actually really scary to watch because the torero runs straight at the bull and has to get really close.  One time, one of the toreros put the stakes in and the bull kept running at him.  The guy literally ran around the ring, facing the bull the entire time, putting his hand on the bulls head.  It was terrifying, but I guess it's to show that he has control over the bull.  Eventually it stopped and just stared at the torero.

 

  

  So the torero puts 2 sets of stakes in the bulls back, and they usually stay, but not always.  A few times one of them fell out, or didn't stick so he had to go back and do it again.  You have to imagine how hard it must be to do something like that.  Bulls' skin is really hard, so to put small stakes into it's back takes a lot of skill and strength.  That is why I have respect for this "sport".  It takes a lot of skill and strength to do something like that.

After that part is over, they pretty much start with the main part of the bull fight that everyone knows.  The main part and majority of the bull fight is with the torero and the bull "dancing" with the cape.  Contrary to belief, bulls aren't attracted to red, they're more attracted to movement.  The red cape is just for show and tradition.  So the torero moves the cape around a lot and makes sudden movements with it to get the bull to run at it.  The entire goal is to tire the bull out so it'll be easier to kill at the end.  So here's a clip of I think my favorite torero.  He was really good.

That was the same guy who ran around the ring with his hand on the bulls head making it stop.  The just stood in front of that bull for a good 30 seconds, it was insane.  It was really cool to watch though.

Here's another video, where you can hear them saying "Olé!" and the music in the background.  This was the other really good guy.

Yes, I realize that this post is mostly videos, sorry guys.  It was really cool and the videos are important for you to understand how this all happened. That was pretty much the whole thing.  In the end, you know when they are getting ready to kill the bull because the torero has the sword behind the cape.  Right before he kills the bull he literally stands in front of the bull and aims the sword.  It's really intense.  You also have a lot of respect then for the torero because it takes a lot of courage and strength to run right at a bull and then drive a sword into it.  It takes courage, skill and precision.  The bull doesn't always die right away, like once it walked around for literally almost 5 minutes and I just couldn't watch, it took too long.  That guy didn't get any ears though.

Ears?  What do you mean he didn't get any ears?  Well, you see, when a torero was a good torero the crowd starts shouting "oreja, oreja!" (which means ear in English).  After the bull is dead the use the bull for meat.  So a lot of people go to restaurants afterwords, or go to wherever they are serving the bull and umm....eat the bull....sorry for that visual guys.  So it's customary, if the torero was a good one, for them to cut off an ear, or both ears and give it to the torero.  It's considered an honor.  Also, after the bull dies everyone stars waving a white flag, scarf, handkerchief, napkin, basically anything white in the air.  So, if the torero does a great job, two ears; good job, one ear; decent or terrible job, no ears.  One guy even got so enthusiastic he threw his ears into the stadium.....EW.  Needless to say we saw the people shying away from those things as one of the guys enthusiastically offered it to others.  No one wants to touch those things!

This is the not same guy, but he's got a super macho stance here

Finally it was time for the last torero, we got ready to leave but decided to stay for the beginning at least.  Let me tell you: that was probably the most terrifying thing I saw the entire time.  This guy thought it would be a brilliant idea to kneel in front of the door where the bull comes running out.  Seriously, who told him that was a good idea, especially since he's new!  Well, either way, he set himself up right in front of the doors so the bull can't miss him on his knees.  Well, the bull did miss him, he must have gotten distracted, but he caught the bulls attention right away and the bull went running right at him.  I'm seriously wondering what people were expecting to happen, because it's impossible to get up that quickly, and pull something off.  Ergo; the guy got run over by the bull and the bull proceeded to bull his head at the guy.  I started screaming, as did pretty much everyone else and I seriously thought I was watching a guy die.  Thankfully he lived.  The guy just curled up into a bull and somehow avoided the horns and walked away unscathed.  It was terrifying though.  STUPID MAN.  I pretty much had had enough at that point and decided to leave this stupid man to his own devices, I couldn't watch any longer.  So we finally left, after having watched almost the entire thing.

Overall, I had an excellent time and I'm so glad I went and experienced something so Spanish.  Plus, in about 20 years, I'm banking on these not existing.  So I'm glad I experienced it while I could.  Olé!

Here's the link to My youtube page (click on those words) so you can see the other video I didn't post in the blog from the bull fight, and all the other videos I've taken throughout the semester.  There are some I didn't post.

That's pretty much it for the bull fight.  It was such a cultural experience.  Up next, another cultural experience!!

Until next time.  Love you all!! <3