los toros

so I went for the first and last time to see la corrida de los toros. I went with marie, max, devin and sophie, and the tickets were only 4 euros. we sat at the very top so my photos aren't that close, but you'll get the idea. but anyway, I hated it. and I cant imagine why people think its fun.

heres what happened

 

they watered the field. to make it easier for the bullfighters not to fall and die. and also put down 2 circles of white sand, which you'll see later

 

this is a picture from where we were in the stands. notice the white part in the middle where I would assume important people, like a king, would sit

 

they brought two horses out that went to the kings seat and they did a little bow or whatever

 

and then everyone came out: the fighters, horses,  and some workers

 

the first bull (we think they do 4 or 5, but we only stayed for 2) about half an hour each

 

they tire the bull out a bit.

 

then they bring out 2 horses, opposite each other so whichever way the bull goes, there's one there. the horses are all padded and I think a cloth is over their eyes so they don't see, but the fighter gets the bull close enough so the bull rams into the horse and the guy on the horse sticks a stick thing with a point on the end (sorry I don't know the word for it, a spear, more or less) into the part between the neck and the shoulder, making the bull bleed. in this photo the bull has already been injured, and you can see all the blood coming out.

 

I hope you can see, but theres also little red/yellow and white things coming out of the back. before the main fighter comes out, they stick these in the bull (up to 6) to continue to tire and hurt it. after they do all those things to the bull, the main guy comes, wearing gold and white, and with a red cloth (the others pink and yellow). the point of this guy is to stick a sword into the neck of the bull, later pull it out, and then stick it back in.

 

after he does his little show, the other guys come back and circle the bull. at this point the bull hardly goes after the cloth and is exhausted. theyre waiting until it falls

 

it goes down on its knees, and they finally kill it.

 

the 3 horses come out, they tie a ring around the bulls neck and its pulled away.

 

and those guys in the blue pick up the bloody sand

 

and im not sure where the bulls go, but yeah. that's what happens.

 

 



so I hated it. it was disgusting and mean. im glad I went for the experience but it was not fun. and this is what spain is known for. bullfights and paella. I cant even imagine how many bulls are killed each year in each city in spain.

M

Valencia

semana santa. aka easter break. in march my dad was planning on coming, then that got delayed. then I was planning on going with my host family, but they couldn't find a ticket. then my counselor said we were going to the pyranees. but guess what, we went to Valencia instead! which was fine with me because I hadn't been there yet. so we got off school on Thursday, I went to my counselors house on Friday, and we left for Valencia on Tuesday. meanwhile, I hung out with a couple friends and wandered around the neighborhood.

 

the first tree I've climbed all year. it was amazing

 

I played chess with alex (which was a 5 minute game because he said he "didn't want to think," he "got too bored". but then I played with his friend and got beat. barely, though ;)

 

 



so those couple days were good, especially since I got to sleep in. then we headed off to Valencia. only a 3 hour car ride so it wasn't too bad. for those of you who don't know, Valencia is the region on the east coast of spain. we went to Sagunto, about 30 km north of Valencia city, where they have an apartment. the reason we went there instead of the mountains was because my counselor's dad wasn't feeling well, so when we arrived he went off to see him as we sat around the house.

the next day we went to la playa, and it was fantastic. the water was cold, but Barbara (11 years old) and I swam anyway. there weren't many people because it was a work day and their vacations are different.

 

that's barbara

 

it was really, really great

 



so we went to the beach for a couple days, and then went to Valencia, the city. its one of the biggest port cities, and its famous for paella. if you don't know what paella is, what are you even doing. im actually not a huge fan of it, but when its made with chicken and not sea food, its amazing.

 

this is a store only selling paella pans. the one in the back left is huge. they love their paella.

 

this is a little map of part of the town.

 

the great cathedral. although these days I feel like I've seen every cathedral there is...

 

 

 

 



we had been looking online for interesting things to do in Valencia, and alex found this thing called the xroom. its basically where youre in this room for an hour and you get certain clues that lead to codes that lead to more codes that open locks and you have to get out. it was pretty fun, actually. we also went and got delicious ice cream. then walked around a bit more and went home.

over the last few days we went and visited the underground caves (pretty, but kinda boring),  and the castle (pretty fun).

 

view of sagunto

 

meeee with view of Valencia in the way way back

 

Susana

 

 

 

so overall it was just super fun. i wish I had brought my nice camera, but its nice not having to worry about taking pictures. ALSO, we got ice cream like twice every day so that was amazing. I tried so many different flavors. and at the end I got this orange thing but it turned out to be not an orange thing and ended the streak terribly. but thats okay, now i know.

 

anyway, now we're back to school and im going to try really hard this trimester so I can pass all my classes.

 

also, if all goes well, i'll be traveling to the canaries for a couple days, but I dont have all the permission stuff done yet, so we'll see.

 

M