El Día de Hispanidad

This past Tuesday was one of the biggest holidays in Spain--el Día de Hispanidad. Because Spaniards are awesome, they decided to take off work monday as well as tuesday so everyone could have a five day weekend.... meaning two days of school this week. score.

In Alcalá there was a huge, maravillosa Medivial Fair, which had about a billion tents selling the most amazing goods. Everyone dressed up like they were from the middle ages. I loved all the smells of leather, food, candles and herbs as we walked by all the streets full of little tents. The goods consisted of food (sooo delicious. I had about three crepes. the best was the one stuffed with melted chocolate and bananas.) jewelry, leather goods, artwork and carved stuff, etc. etc.

The band we met. They were legit

The cure for all your problems: menopause, herpes.... anything you need.

every type of sausage/chorizo etc.

This fair has by far been one of my favorite things here in España.  



On Tuesday night the group (everyone minus McKay) went to a Corrida de Toros..... a bull fight. First off, I just want to say that no, I am against bull fights because they kill multiple bulls for sport. And that is wrong on numerous levels. However, there was a morbid fascination with the art of how its all done. But still, NOT okay.

Primero, phase one: The torrero lures the bull with a cape. This shows how smart the bull is, as well as tells the torerro which side the bull favors.

Second, the bad guy with the lance stabs the bull to weaken its neck muscles, making the bull lower its head. The horses have protection because without it, they would get gored to death. They are also blindfolded because if they knew when the bull was going to charge them, they would freak out (for good reason). Some of the old men at the stadium who have gone to bull fights their entire lives were yelling at the horsemen because they stabbed and shoved the lance in the bull way more than they were suppose to. This was the only good part--when the crowd was yelling "Brutos! y Booooo".

Then the torrero has 3 tries to put these poky stick this inside the hole that the lance created. This also helps injure the neck muscles so the poor bull cant lift its head and stab the torrero with his horns.

Third phase is when the torrero tries to stab the bull with his sword, aiming for the aorta and the heart so the bull bleeds to death and dies "quickly".  Only two of the six bulls died this way. The others were stabbed a lot before they actually died :(.

In my opinion, its not ok to murder and torture 6 bulls in less than two hours for sport. Its wrong. However, I am not sorry I went. It was a cultural experience I will never forget.

dragging the dead bull off :(

Our group also went to Avila and Salamanca this weekend but it was pretty much the same thing as all the other trips: beautiful cathedrals, walls surrounding the city, etc. so if you want to see pictures go to facebook.