One of the three Matadors with his bull

Another snapshot from my bullfight

A slightly staged photo about the reactions some may have been feeling at watching a bullfight for the first time.

This bull was boo-ed by the crowd and these steers were sent in to get the bull out.

Once the bull is killed he's paraded out like this.

A shot with me and the fight in the background... you can even see the red cape.

After the bullfight. Standing in front of the ring.

Here it is as promised. Photos from the bullfight. A couple of other things I remember about this experience is that earlier in the week I was speaking to a local who was tutoring my classmates and I in Spanish. We were all talking about the bullfight and how excited we were to get to experience this complete difference in culture. You see for the most part we didn't really think about bullfights as animal cruelty we were too caught up in the fact that we were getting to watch the fights in person. But when I started talking to the tutor he said that he didn't really care for the fights because he didn't think that the bulls deserved to be treated with such violence. It was after this that I said something that offended him. I referred to bullfighting as "a sport." He immediately corrected me. Telling me that no matter if I thought it was animal cruelty or not there is no one in Spain that would refer to it as a sport. It was something different. Somthing more.

Yet another surprising thing about bullfights was how much goes into it. The bull is first released and then with the pink cape and at least three different men all first tire the bull out then following that a man comes out on a highly padded horse and he gets two chances to weaken the bull's neck. This part was always quite on the scary side. The bull even drew up some blood on the horse and literally lifted him off of his feet. It was then that the man on the horse used a rather extended pole and reaches for a specific area of the bull's neck. Following this part of the fight comes the men who I believe are called Picadores. During this part there are three younger men and each of them has two sticks of about arm length and they are very sharp on the end. Each of the men charges the bull with the sticks with the intention of further weakening the bulls neck. By the end of this stage the bull should have six sharp sticks flopping around still attached to the body. Then comes the Matador. He comes and does a varying series of moves with the bull and after a differing amount of time he switches the fake sword with a real one and makes his move towards the bull. Ideally the bull will fall over dead within fifteen steps of the entrance of the sword. If the bull does not fall it reflects poorly on the Matador and requires another attempt at the kill. During my specific fight there were almost all bad kills that were quite brutal towards the bull. Once the bull is finally dead he is hooked up to what appears to be a gladiator carrige from back in the day and he is dragged in a circle and paraded out of the ring. This part was also a little bothersome to whitness. After this come some sweepers and they quickly sweep out the ring so that it's not covered in blood for the next bull and Matador. The killing of each bull and the performance of each Matador is critically judged and can be expected to by very highly evaluated in the paper the following day. If a bullfighter and his team does well enough he is given an ear or two of the bull that was so perfectly executed and even taken out the big door or gate of the bull ring.

Shannon Clay (me) in my Feria dress at the Plaza de Espana in Seville, Spain.

Well it's been awhile, but it appears that I start all of my posts this way.... Dang it! :( It has been quite the delay since I last wrote and boy do I regret it. I don't regret a second of my time abroad with one exception.... I didn't write on here faithfully. I always told myself," I will do it later. I won't ever forget a second of all of this." Well it turns out I was probably wrong. Things already feel rusty. It already feels like a dream. I just can't believe I was living over-seas for four months. If I were to advice anyone going abroad I would have quite the load to say, but one of the most important is to keep a diary/journal.

I feel that I should have prepared myself a little better for my landing in the States. When I first encountered everyone they almost always as me, "How was Spain?" "What was your favorite thing you got to do?" Well... those are very hard questions to answer. Obviously Spain was absolutely wonderful. Best experience of my life, thus far. But even that answser does not do my time there justice. Spain was everything, and four monthes was not enough. My favorite thing... probably either going to a bull fight, or the week of Feria. There was so much about bull fights that I never knew and never understood. Such as the fact that in one bull fight there are actually six bulls die. It could actually end up being eight, which is the case for the bull fight that I had the privilage of seeing with my fellow classmates. When one bull appears to be a bad bull, for example if the bull is tripping and falling all over the place then the crowd will use wistles to boo the bull and indicate to the president that they want a new bull to be brought out. You see if the bull is clumsy there is less danger for the bull fighter, and if we are going to pay money to see this fight we want to see a good fight. For every bull fight there are always two substitute bulls that can be called out in the case of a couple of bull "flops." One thing that I thought was interesting and a bit humorous was that when they are getting rid of the clumsy bull they bring in a bunch of steers with bells attached to their necks. This can be a quick or slow process, because the bull is supposed to charge at these steer which leads them to run and the only place to run to is through the one exit that has been left open to get out with the old and eventually in with the new, bull that is. Sometimes the bull drags his feet at gaining interest in the steers, but eventually it always works. The bull chases all the steers out of the ring and the discarded bull is killed behind the scenes of the crowd, and a new bull is brought in. A typical bull fight however will consist of three bullfighters killing two bulls each (six bulls.) I don't want to risk rambling on and on about bull fights before I even get to Feria. So this is fair warning- there will be more on bull fights tomorrow, as well as pictures.

My friends walking down the street to get to Feria in Seville Spain.

My friends infront of the "Puerta" for Feria 2012 in Seville Spain. Notice how it was too big to even capture the whole thing in one picture.

A couple of the "casetas" and the beautiful street lamps for Feria 2012 in Seville Spain

Trying to sneak a peak into a private caseta or tent.

A photo of all the men dressed up for Feria and they are allowed to bring their horses. Sometimes you can find a pretty lady perched on the back, such as the one on the far left.



Me and a very large stick of cotton candy at the Feria de Sevilla 2012.

The Gate to Feria 2012 lit up at night.



Picture of the Feria de Sevilla 2012 from atop one of it's many rides. I know it doesn't look busy, but I showed up early for that purpose exactly this day. Just didn't want to have to wait in the long lines. Feria really comes alive at night rather than day.

A photo I snapped during dance class when we were all trying to learn the Sevillanas dance for Feria.

Another shot of everyone trying to learn Sevillanas for Feria.

Now for Feria. Feria was a week long fair in Seville where most businesses close down and the whole city goes out for the fair. For the first night of Feria on Monday night the city all goes out to the site of the fair to see the lighting of the "Puerta" to Feria or "Gate" to the Fair. I believe it's right at  midnight that the gate is set to glow and everyone takes the first look at the VERY large lighted entry way that is a new design every year. Every day for the following week the city nearly triples in population as people flood into the city to see the Feria. An area that consists of hundreds if not more "casetas" or tents, as well as typical fair rides that you might see in the United States at carnivals and such, but this time the glowing names are in Spanish such as "El Gigante" or "El Raton." Something I loved about Feria is that is felt as if I was being transported to another time. Spain was unlike the United States in that the population participated in this ancient tradition. There is nothing like that here in the United States, at least not that I have found. I'm sure you may be thinking of Halloween, but you are wrong. Adults, old ladies and men, infants, children of all ages, and entire families don't participate in Halloween like the Spaniards participate in Feria. These dresses can not be found cheaply. You'll be lucky to spend less than 150 Euros on a decent looking dress, and even though I know that Spain is going through a tough time with their economy and unemployment you would never have guessed it by the way they turned out to celebrate Feria. Everyone was dressed to the nines in their brightly colored and patterned Feria dresses that every woman wore from infant to rusty old woman, and the men were dressed in their best suits and hats. The place was also covered with vintage looking lamps strung above and the most prestigious of the crowd was escorted in on horse carriges. Once arriving at the Feria everyone has the option of going to the public tents which have places to sit, dance, and eat. Or if they are privilaged enough they will know someone with a private tent (which is over 98% of the tents) and they hop from one to the next dancing, drinking, talking, and eating. Though I use the word "tent" I mean so much more than that. Most of the tents were decorated on the inside like a formal dining area in any rich man's house. They were just beautiful and to top it off nearly all of the tents had a live band. Among the songs sung by the band were songs of Sevillanas. Which if you grew up in the area you grew up learning a particular dance. The dance of the Sevillanas. A dance of four parts that can be done to all songs with this particular beat and rhythm. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Texas Tech campus in Seville that hires a dance teacher to come and teach we Tech students the Sevillanas dance so that we might participate in Feria like a local. Another memory I will always have of Feria is that of seeing all these women in long formal Spanish dresses riding all of the rides. A huge piece of machinary flying about twisting and turning taking the tail of a long dress with it. Quite the site to see. I danced and I rode. Boy do I miss Feria. To top off a great week there is a fireworks display put on for all of those at Feria on Sunday night at midnight.