Sunday, February 24, 2008

My first bullfight


Yes, it's true. Today I finally went to my first Spanish bullfight. It took place in Jerez, about a half an hour away from Rota, and I enjoyed it much more than I had imagined. This is one of the first bullfights of the season, and although there were quite a few people there, the bullring was far from packed.

The biggest thing that I noticed about bullfighting that I hadn't known before going was the ceremony involved in it. The presentation of the fight is more important than the fight itself. There were 6 bulls killed in total, and although I had expected to be horrified by the bulls' deaths, it wasn't that bad. Each torrero (bullfighter) took their turn with a bull and they would try to get close enough to stab it in a vulnerable spot. The way they got close to the bulls, but darted out of the way was almost like a well-rehearsed dance.


During the fights, the banderilleros (flag-bearing helpers) often stepped in with their pink flags, which they would use to distract the bull whenever necessary. Each fight began with the woman bullfighter on horseback, armed with a lance. She must stab a mound of muscle on the bull's neck, leading to the animal's first loss of blood. In the next stage, the banderilleros attempt to plant two razor sharp barbed sticks on the bull's flanks, ideally as close as possible to the wound where blood was first drawn.

At the end, the bullfighter re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape and a sword. It is a common misconception that the color red is supposed to anger the bull, despite the fact bulls are colourblind (the real reason that a red colored cape is used is that any blood stains on it will be less noticeable). He uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, both demonstrating his control over it and risking his life by getting especially close to it. When this happens, the crowd shouts "Ole!". Finally, the match comes to an end when the bullfighter makes a last stab at the bull. Then all the bandilleros come out and try to get the bull cornered, so that it gives up and lays down, and then they kill it with a single stab through its head.

When the bull is dead, the bullfighter may be awarded trophies, according to their skill in working with the bull, which can be one or two ears from the bull, the tail and the hoof. The crowd will often show its opinion of the fight by waving white handkerchiefs, and this waving continues after the trophies have been awarded in an attempt to get the bullfighter to throw their trophies into the crowd.

The most interesting part about this particular bull fight, was that the bullfighters were women , and some were even on horseback! I was very impressed by the way they carried themselves too... the show was all about showing confidence in the fact that they were the bull's master. Although this did backfire for one girl. She wasn't having very much luck to begin with (as in she couldn't a good shot at the bull) and at one point, she turned her back on the bull (which they do frequently) and the bull, who wasn't quite tired out yet, charged her. Then, to make matters worse, she fell down onto the ground and the bull trampled her a bit before she got up. But, in true bullfighter fashion, she stood up, and continued on with the show. Luckily she didn't seem to be hurt.

The other tradition that I found interesting (albeit a little disgusting) was that of cutting off parts of the bull and throwing them into the crowd. A couple of times Rachael and I had to back up to get out of the way of a flying ear, and one little boy sitting right in front of us managed to catch one (which apparently was a pretty big deal!) My only question is, what do you do with a bull's ear once you get it home?

Friday, February 15, 2008

Never-ending paperwork

As most non-tourists living in Spain quickly discover, the red tape that plagues this country can be very frustrating. Since I've already been here for more than 5 months, you would think I had everything all worked out. However, as Erin, another language assistant here in Rota, found out a few days ago, it's all very confusing!

The reason we were worried about our documentation in the first place is that everyone else that we know in the program (both Americans and Canadians) received a temporary Spanish identity card with their photos and fingerprints on them), as well as their NIE numbers (official identity number for foreigners)... and we have no such thing!

Since Erin is heading back to the States for a week at the end of February, she is especially worried about her paperwork, because it will affect whether or not she is allowed back into Spain when she returns. It's not as big of an issue for me, since most of my future travel plans don't involve leaving the European Union, but if I want to go to Morocco sometime, I want to be sure I'm able to come back to Spain.

So last week, Erin went to the police station to confirm that our paperwork was all valid and complete. Unfortunately, she talked to a different woman than we had been dealing with all along, and as this is Spain, that meant she got completely different information. The woman gave her all these instructions, and said that she had to request special permission to leave Spain. Little did she know, the woman heard her accent when she spoke Spanish, and assumed Erin was from somewhere in South America. A few days later when Erin returned to the police station, she spoke with the right woman, who told her she didn't have to do anything and that the documents we have are in fact valid. This just goes to show how a little misunderstanding can cause a lot of hassle.

Apparently the system is undergoing some changes with identity cards - they are modernizing them and installing microchips in them. So to avoid a little work, we were given papers instead of identity cards, but both work for our situation. The second woman told Erin that if we would have just asked for the cards at the beginning, we could have worked something out, but that they are really not necessary as long as we bring all of our paperwork with us when we travel!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

More Carnaval


This weekend was the 2nd weekend of Carnaval in Cadiz, but unfortunately, we never even made it to Cadiz. Due to the combination of a bus strike, and horrible ferry schedules, we decided not to go to Cadiz because we would have been stuck there for 14 hours (all night long), or we would have had to take a very expensive cab ride. Our friends still ended up going to Cadiz, but Rachael and I decided to go out in Rota instead, as this weekend was our big Carnaval blowout.

It turned out to be a blast! Everyone was wearing costumes again, and I was very impressed with how original they were! My favourite group were some of Rachael's students who had each dressed up as a slice of pizza. When we saw them they were lying on the ground, trying to form a full pizza so that someone could take a picture.


To start off, the night, we each mixed a big 2 litre bottle of alcohol and juice to bring with us. We also brought plastic cups, so we could drink with everyone else in the street. We started off by watching some of the groups perform on one of the stages. Then later, we made our way to the big tent in the main square, where they were playing music. It was basically like a gigantic dance club. At times it was a little bit crowded, but we had so much fun we ended up staying until the early hours of the morning. We also headed over to check out some of the clubs by the port, but they were so packed we couldn't even breathe, let alone dance!

Since it was 5:30am by that time, we thought it was time to go home. All in all, it was a much better night that I had been expecting (since I was so excited to go to Cadiz) and I'm glad we didn't miss it!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Carnaval


As of Friday, Carnaval in Cadiz has officially begun! The city of Cadiz (which happens to be just across the bay from Rota) lives to celebrate Carnaval, which is a 10-period of costumes, plays, music, and much more! It is said to be the third-largest Carnaval in the world after
Rio de Janeiro and Trinidad and has been going on since the 17th century.

I had two friends come down to visit me this weekend and on Saturday night, I headed over to Cadiz on the ferry to meet them. The first thing that I noticed was how dressed up everyone on the ferry was. Everyone from the toddlers to the groups of 70-year old women had on some sort of costume. Unlike at home at Halloween, it seemed like instead of each person trying to find the most unique costume, the point was for everyone to dress up as a group.

When I stepped off the ferry at 7:30 pm, the area around the port was packed with people. In all the plazas, there were booths set up selling every kind of carnival candy imaginable, different last minute costumes, drinks, food, and of course - alcohol! Not that any of the students in the main square seemed to have any use for the alcohol. They had all brought their own bottles of liquor, mixers, and glasses and were having a gigantic botellon all over the city! One group of guys had really planned out their night in advance and were actually using a shopping cart to bring all their bottles with them wherever they went!

Some of the costumes were outrageous, and all of them were very creative! The party was only getting started when I arrived, and sometime later, after wandering around the streets for awhile, we joined in the big parade of people following the drums and singing typical Carnaval songs. We soon learned the words to one of the shortest chants, so we were even able to join in!

Then later on, there was a big ceremony where everyone gathered to see all of the Carnaval Muses (a group of about 10 girls dressed up) parade onto an outdoor stage. Then they brought out the previous year's Carnaval Queen and announced the Queen of the 2008 Carnaval.

All in all, it was a pretty exciting night and I can't wait to go back next weekend, when 9 of our language assistant friends are coming down to visit!