Yep - it happened. Granada's bullfight. We joked during the fight that the only reason we're here is to support down syndrome, which was the purpose of the fight. All donations were given to the cause. We had a beautiful day...sun was shining, birds were cherping, bulls were dying. Not my kind of day. But when you are in Spain for four months, you at least have to go to one bull fight. Like our directors had told us, the first bull will be the most difficult to watch. And it really was.
The whole fight lasted about 20 minutes. And to keep my blog positive, we won't go into detail. The second bull I started to notice some details about the actual fight: the three stages, the President waving different colored cloths, the different moves the toreadors were doing. I still didn't watch the very end part. After halftime everyone in the crowd gets out their tinfoil wrapped bocadillos and has a snack. There were 6 bulls and 6 toreadors. Two from Granada, one boy who was 16, and three of the best bullfighters in all of Spain.
At the end of the fight, the crowd would decide if they got to cut off one or two ears. If two, they would throw the other ear into the crowd. Must be that great feeling like when you catch a home run at a baseball game.The first bull after half time was a real fighter and it took a very long time for him to die. So after that display I decided I had enough and I left. OF COURSE, I would regret it because turns out the last bull fighter, the youngest kid, got gored!!!! But not badly because he was alright enough to finish the fight.When it came down to it, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the animal.
Some of the toreadors were pretty brave, kneeling 5 feet in front of the
bull with nothing in their hands. But to me, there is nothing brave
about weakening a bull, bleeding it to where it is really delirious,
then make it chase after a pink cloth. I felt it was a blessing in disguise when they finally killed the bull. I can't imagine sitting anywhere closer than our top floor seats. Call me American, but I would have been more impressed if they would have ridden the bull.
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| [Got this picture online] |
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| Overlooking Granada |
I spoke too soon. "Granada has beautiful weather all the time, it never
rains here!" Opps! So the weekend I get to spend in Granada...is
miserable because it rains the entire time. Hiking with my Intercambio was fun. I got to explore a direction in Granada that I hadn't before. I would hardly call it a hike though, it was more like a long walk on a trail. But that is alright because the main point of the meetings with the Spanish students is to practice our Spanish. Afterwards we went to a cafe and had some coca-colas. 2 euro for a small glass (kids size) of coca-cola. That's about $2.75! But gotta splurge! When my parents came to visit they brought a whole bunch of candy from the US. Yes, I did share. But I rationed that out like it was the only food I had left to eat. Which is completely ridiculous! BUT now that it is all gone, I've reached that point where I want to eat as much Spanish candy that I can before I can't anymore!
On Friday after my Oral exam in the morning, Austin took me on a real hike. We made the plan to not stop until we reached the snow in the Sierra Nevada. Well, nothing like setting our sights high...literally. We left before noon and didn't get back until 7.
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| Off road short cut! |
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| An attractive victory dance |
We hiked up two huge mountains. The next morning when I woke up, I was cherry red and one of my eyes were even swollen. OH, and I sore from head to toe. It was crazy fun though and I'm so glad we went. It was beautiful weather and I'm always up for a little physical activity. Because we had no prior plan of where to go we just started walking. At first we were on an actual trail. Then, to save time, we took a short cut to get to the other mountain. We walked through a little town outside of Granada, petted some horses, crossed a highway, then up the next! From the first mountain we could see three different trails we could take. We were shooting for the one in the middle. But after we had crossed the highway we realized we couldn't find it anymore. So we just started walking through a pasture which turned into an olive grove. We figured we'd find one. But we didn't.
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| Next morning-lookin as good as I feel! |
We took a break earlier to have lunch. His host mom made him a bocadillo with a banana. Mine forgot...so I got to make my own sandwich. I even snuck some lettuce on mine--what a treat! haha We took a break and sat in the shade under an olive tree in the grove. The sight was amazing. We both decided it just wasn't possible today to reach the snow. So we hiked through brush, pine trees, and thorn bushes to the top of that mountain. The sight was awesome but I was burnt, my legs scratched and a little bloody, and I wanted to get back.
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| We hiked near to the top of the right peak |
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Hiked to the top of the right peak
(to the right of the Coke sign) |
Over the rainy weekend I did some shopping, went to the movie "Los Avengadores" (The Avengers) with a group of friends, and went horseback riding! Yes! That's right! I went with 3 other girls to a little town outside of Granada. From there we were picked up in a beat up Jeep and taken out to a little Spanish Ranch. It was adorable!!! It was exactly what you would think a little Spanish ranch would like. The home was built into the side of the hill/mountain. There was one corral for horses in the front. Chickens, geese, and about 80 little ninos running around. We thought there was a birthday party but turns out they do a little schooling out there for the kids in the town! We met the entire family..they were sooo good to us! The Spanish Grandfather, who owned the place, served us soda, whole walnuts, chips, and dried cookies. Because it had been raining, we waited for it to pass and hung out inside with them for a while. We learned that they own about 70 English horses. The one I rode was named the Spanish word for belly: "Barriga". I don't know why because honestly, none of the horses looked too well fed... but I guess I compare them to how fat Dolly was!!
The ride was awesome up into the Sierras. It wasn't cliffs or anything dangerous. But we did ride up the trail a ways and had the most breathtaking view of Granada and the Sierras. When we turned around to go back, it started raining. And the rain is colder of course, being in the mountains. It was a successful ride until poor Breann, one of the girls I was with, while dismounting from her horse, fell on her butt and got her entire backside and leg muddy.
But we were welcomed inside by our Spanish Grandpa who was building a fire and had a hair dryer out, ready for us to dry off with! He served us hot chocolate..literally hot liquid chocolate, and a Spanish tortilla tapa! (Remember its like potatoes and eggs, not an actual egg omelet) We were having such a blast with the family, they had brought in baby kittens and a bunny too! It has been so long since I've played with an animal! There are dogs everywhere in Granada but the owners AND the dogs get pretty mad when you touch them. Grandpa gave us a ride back into town in a farm car, unlike any farm car I'd been in. It died 5 times going back into town and I was absolutely shocked that it had made it through the rough road anyways! He made us sit in the car with him until the bus came so we would be warm, and we gave him Spanish kisses when we left! What a guy... (:
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| Just don't forget how beautiful Granada is! |
Downward slope! I'm writing this on Wednesday, May 2nd, meaning I officially have 15 days left in Spain.
Still a few more adventures to be had... might just have to go on one today!!
Yep - it happened. Granada's bullfight. We joked during the fight that the only reason we're here is to support down syndrome, which was the purpose of the fight. All donations were given to the cause. We had a beautiful day...sun was shining, birds were cherping, bulls were dying. Not my kind of day. But when you are in Spain for four months, you at least have to go to one bull fight. Like our directors had told us, the first bull will be the most difficult to watch. And it really was.
The whole fight lasted about 20 minutes. And to keep my blog positive, we won't go into detail. The second bull I started to notice some details about the actual fight: the three stages, the President waving different colored cloths, the different moves the toreadors were doing. I still didn't watch the very end part. After halftime everyone in the crowd gets out their tinfoil wrapped bocadillos and has a snack. There were 6 bulls and 6 toreadors. Two from Granada, one boy who was 16, and three of the best bullfighters in all of Spain.
At the end of the fight, the crowd would decide if they got to cut off one or two ears. If two, they would throw the other ear into the crowd. Must be that great feeling like when you catch a home run at a baseball game.The first bull after half time was a real fighter and it took a very long time for him to die. So after that display I decided I had enough and I left. OF COURSE, I would regret it because turns out the last bull fighter, the youngest kid, got gored!!!! But not badly because he was alright enough to finish the fight.When it came down to it, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the animal.
Some of the toreadors were pretty brave, kneeling 5 feet in front of the
bull with nothing in their hands. But to me, there is nothing brave
about weakening a bull, bleeding it to where it is really delirious,
then make it chase after a pink cloth. I felt it was a blessing in disguise when they finally killed the bull. I can't imagine sitting anywhere closer than our top floor seats. Call me American, but I would have been more impressed if they would have ridden the bull. 
On Friday after my Oral exam in the morning, Austin took me on a real hike. We made the plan to not stop until we reached the snow in the Sierra Nevada. Well, nothing like setting our sights high...literally. We left before noon and didn't get back until 7.
The ride was awesome up into the Sierras. It wasn't cliffs or anything dangerous. But we did ride up the trail a ways and had the most breathtaking view of Granada and the Sierras. When we turned around to go back, it started raining. And the rain is colder of course, being in the mountains. It was a successful ride until poor Breann, one of the girls I was with, while dismounting from her horse, fell on her butt and got her entire backside and leg muddy.
But we were welcomed inside by our Spanish Grandpa who was building a fire and had a hair dryer out, ready for us to dry off with! He served us hot chocolate..literally hot liquid chocolate, and a Spanish tortilla tapa! (Remember its like potatoes and eggs, not an actual egg omelet) We were having such a blast with the family, they had brought in baby kittens and a bunny too! It has been so long since I've played with an animal! There are dogs everywhere in Granada but the owners AND the dogs get pretty mad when you touch them. Grandpa gave us a ride back into town in a farm car, unlike any farm car I'd been in. It died 5 times going back into town and I was absolutely shocked that it had made it through the rough road anyways! He made us sit in the car with him until the bus came so we would be warm, and we gave him Spanish kisses when we left! What a guy... (:
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