Chapter 8: Becoming a Local

Thought you guys might like to hear some music from Spain.  Not sure if it is popular but our Senora was jamming to it in her car when she drove us back from dinner.  Tonight we ate tapas for dinner and it was nice to go to local places tucked away in random streets.  We met her at her salon and then went to dinner which consisted of going place to place trying small plates of food.  I tried caracoles (snails) for the first time.  They were actually very good.  It is very common to have a plate of snails with a beer as a tapas dish.  We spent about four hours going from place to place trying new things.  Hope you enjoy the song.

Chapter 7: Protests, Bullfights, and Too Much Skin

It’s not many times you get to experience the smell of death.  When I was walking around the roman ruins of Itálica, I thought to myself, “It would be cool if they still had gladiator vs. animal fights.”  But after going to Corrida de toros (bullfighting) in Sevilla, I realized that bullfighting is the closest I can get to see gladiators fight.  It was a gruesome yet fascinating event that I think everyone should experience in order to fully grasp the importance it has in Spanish culture.  I will discuss this later so that those who do not want to read about it can read about my other adventures first.

This past weekend played host to a lot of new cultural experiences: political protests, Roman Empire ruins, bullfights, and topless beaches.

Over the past week, and on Friday particularly, there have been many protests throughout Spain due to the local elections (not presidential election) that took place yesterday.  One of the main protests in Spain took place in Puerta del Sol where our hostel was in Madrid.  There have also been a lot of demonstrations and marches here in Sevilla.  Most of them are young students who didn’t like the current party in power; however that party was reelected last night.  In Spain, individuals are not elected, but the party is.  People vote for a political party and that party takes control of the entire government.  Lots of people have been protesting that this is not a true democracy.  I have to give a presentation on the politics on Spain later this month so I will make an entry with more accurate details then. 

Protestors gather at a new public architectural project that was funded by the government.  This has been the site of many protests in the past couple of weeks.

On Saturday we took a field trip to Itálica which is about 30 minutes outside of the city.  Itálica was a city during the Roman Empire and had the third largest amphitheater in the empire.  This is where gladiators fought other gladiators or wild animals.  Here we got to see a lot of things we have talked about in my art history class, so it was interesting to make connections.  It’s a very historical place that demonstrates a lot of the empire’s advancements.   

The amphitheater at Italica where gladiators fought.

From Itálica we drove an hour to a beach and we were able to hang out and relax for a couple of hours.  Unfortunately it was during my normal siesta time, so naturally I fell asleep on the beach and got pretty burnt.  Although the beach wasn’t designated a topless or nude beach, people still felt to urge to expose themselves.  I guess if it doesn’t explicity say it is a nude beach then it is understood it is a topless beach (that is their idea of keeping their clothes on).  We were a bunch of dumbstruck Americans as our group of 70 walked onto the beach and stood their awkwardly trying to find a place while adverting our eyes/pretending to advert our eyes. 

La Playa with large rock in the water.  At low tide, the rock is out of the water.

Yesterday a group of us went to the Corrida de toros which was a memorable experience.  We really wanted to go while we were here since they are talks of them outlawing bullfights.  The bullfights we went to were amateur matadors.  Although it wasn’t professional matadors, it was better for us since it was cheaper, the younger matadors are more aggressive to please the crowds, and we don’t know the difference between amateur and pro bullfighting.  Three matadors fought and killed two bulls each.  There were a 19 years old, 23 year old, and a 25 year old women.  The event was held in Plaza de Toros which is one of the most famous venues in Spain (it is the background of the blog).  They have bullfights every Sunday after Semana Santa (Holy Week) until about July.  They usually start around 6:30 and 7:00 so that one half of the stadium is in the shade and the other half is in the sun.  While there really is no bad place to sit in the stadium, it is very hot in the sun.  Seats in the sun are less expensive than seats in the shade.  The event was new cultural atmosphere that displayed Spanish tradition.  We sat in front of the band that played classic Spanish music between fights, and almost ominous music as the dead bull was dragged out of the ring.  There were six bullfights total, and they are split into three different stages that are started by the sound of a bugle.  I have listed the three stages below, and they may be graphic so proceed with caution.  For the most part the audience is quiet, despite a few shouts of “Olé.”  An eerie silence comes over the crowd right before the matador kills the bull.  Once the bull falls to the ground, the band begins to play, the people cheer, and decorated horses come to drag the bull out of the stadium.   Matadors are highly respected and a good matador will kill his bull during his first attempt, and two at the maximum.   I have explained what happens step by step below.  Enjoy.

Plaza de Toros

The paseíllo starts which is a parade of the participants as they salute the visting dignitary. 

The matadors and their assistants parade out as part of the paseíllo. Two picadores (the lancers on horseback), tree banderilleros who help the matador control the bull during the first two stages with magenta and gold capes, and a sword page.

Stage 1 - The bull enters the arena as is tested for verocity by the matador with a magenta and gold cape.  The matador makes a series of passes to oberserve the behavior of the bull and any abnormal behavior.   

Two Picadors come out and circle the ring.  The horse is blind folded so it doesn't become scared by the charging bull.  It is also padded to protect the horse from the bull's horns. 

 

It is the picadors job to approach the bull and stab it just behind the morrillo, a mound of muscle on the fighting bull's neck, weakening the neck muscles and leading to the animal's first loss of blood.  The matador's assistants uses there capes to distract the bull incase it becomes aggresive with the horse.  During this time the matador can observe certain behaviors about the bull such as what side the bull favors.  This bull will be stabbed two times by the picador.



Stage 2 - The three banderilleros each attempt to plant two banderillas into the bull's shoulders.  The banderillas are sticks with large hooks on the end.  Two assistants use their capes on either side of the bull to keep him still.  The banderilleros will hold the sticks up in the air and then yell at the bull to get his attention.  The banderilleros then charge at the bull, jump up and stab the bull with the sticks.  If successful, the bull will have six sticks dangeling form him at the end.

Stage 3 - The matador enters the ring along to go one-on-one with the bull using his red cape and sword.  The matador uses the cape the attract the bull into a series of passes to wear the horse down and present a display of choreopgraphic art.  The series of passes can be broken up into different stages resulting in applause from the audience.  He attempts to make a final pass to position the bull infront of himto stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart

The matador stands face to face with the bull as it prepares to stab him.  The audience is silent as the matador stands still until he quickly jumps towards to bull to stab it in his back.  You can tell the job of the picadors was successful as the bull has his head, horns, and shoulders down, making it easy for the matador to kill the bull.

As the bull falls down to thr ground, an assistant stabs the bull in the brain to ensure that it is dead.

Three decorated horses enter the stadium and the bull is attached to the back of them.  As the band starts playing and people cheer, the horse is quickly dragged around and carried out of the stadium.  This happens 5 more times.

Chapter 6: Donkey Tennis

School is getting underway, and I feel like my Spanish has improved a great amount.  For me, it is easy to write in Spanish but to talk you have to overcome conversational tension and fear.  When I am asked a question in class, I freeze up as if I have never spoken Spanish in my life.  But I have been working to just try and go for it.  All of our classes are in Spanish.  Our professors only speak Spanish and do not know English.  Because they are native speakers, they speak very fast and with different Spanish accidents than the ones in American schools.  Many times in American schools teachers use basic Spanish accents that are often found in Mexico. In our art history class we have talked about prehisotric art and architecture here in Spain which has actually been very interesting.  I usually think of prehistoric art as boring but our professor talks about it in a way that is connected to the development of civilization and art.  In my grammar and conversation class we have done a lot of work with reviewing some rules about grammar and discussing the linguistics of Spain.  Sevilla is in the region of Andalusia and in the region the native people speak andalusia which is different from castellano, also known as the official language.  There are a lot of negative stereotypes about people who speak andalusia.  It is known to sound broken and phonetically incorrect.  There have been efforts from the government to support that language, and to develop into more fluid and proper language.  It was interesting when we related it to southern and northern accents in the United States.  It is more or less the same concept, but our class had a debate about what a southern accent entails.  Our teacher solely associated southern accents with uneducated and poor southerners.  It was a very interesting topic that is complex but necessary to discuss.

EUSA - Our school.  Is is a local university in which students study tourism.

The cafeteria of the school that has great out door sitting area.  Many students and professors got after class to discuss school over a beer or coffee.

Entrance to EUSA.  It is a nice building hidden from the city life.

My roommate and I have been practicing our Spanish a lot with our Senora duirng lunch and Sarah during dinner.  Sarah is the French student living here and she is studying Spanish at a different school.  She only eats dinner at the house, but it is nice to talk with her since the three of us aren't as fast as our Senora.  Last night at dinner, it hit me about how important knowing a different language is.  It also hit me how strange languages are, how different langauges develop and how we are so similar yet can't communicate with each other.  For example Sarah knows French and Spanish and we know English and Spanish so the only way we can communicate is by talking Spanish.  We also went to a local cafe to do some homework with Sarah, and her friend form Switzerland joined us.  It was the four of us from three different countries, able to speak to each other because our connection to Spanish.  Sarah is really easy to talk to and is very nice.  We talked about her trip to New York and the food she ate while here.  She kept saying that she hated donkey tennis.  We had no clue what she was talking about.  Donkey tennis, donkey tennis, donkey tennis.  After much conversing we realized she meant Dunkin Doughnuts.  It just goes to show how important being able to communicate is.   There are many times we don't know a vocabulary word and you need to explain the word in Spanish to get your point across.  It is a skill I've been forced to use here, but will help me for the rest of my life, no matter what language.  You need to learn to adapt.

Our apartment building.

The street I live on.  All the street signs are made from tile.

Our kitchen.  To the left is where we eat breakfast and lunch.

Tonight was one of my favorite nights in Sevilla so far.  We had plans to go out for tapas with our Senora but she didn't want to because it was raining.  However she still wanted to grab a beer with us.  Every day after work she has one beer at a bar to relax after her hectic days.  So the five of us (me, my roommate, Sarah, Senora, and her daughter) went to a local place to have a beer.  After one she decided we would just actually eat there despite the rain.  Her daughter speaks very fast and likes to talk a lot and I was sitting across from her at dinner.  In a normal setting, I would have been not so great at thinking fast in Spanish to communicate as I mentioned above, but after being three beers deep with her and my senora, it was easy to overcome this tension.  The daughter and I talked about Argentina, places to travel in the U.S., the Mexican drug war, the affects of Neo-Liberalism on Mexico, and the U.S. government.  It was rewarding to be able to have a conversation with her - a conversation that wasn't simple.  I enjoy talking to people to see their point of view, especially when they come from such a different background.  Our Senora was enjoying the night so much they she made the waiters believe that is was her birthday so we could get free cake.  It was a great night in which we were able to sit down and really get to know our Senora and her daughter.  I think the both of us feel a lot closer and more comfortable to start random conversations around her.  I have put some pictures throughout to show you.  Enjoy.

Our Senora getting her "birthday" cake.  She knows the staff very well since she goes to this place a lot.

Karmen (left) with her mom/our Senora, Doris (right).

Family photo. Me, Sarah, Jackson, Karmen and Doris.

Chapter 5: Catedral de Sevilla y La Giralda

To start off, I want to apologize for my grammar and spelling in the past posts.  Now that I am on a regular sleep schedule hopefully you find my writing to be a little bit better.  Yesterday we went to La Catedral de Sevilla.  As a catholic, it was really special to see a church like this.  I think I would go to church a lot more often if my church looked like this.  This is the first time I have seen such a large cathedral of such ornate and monumental scale.  I recommend that everyone visit this cathedral if they have the opportunity.  This is the largest cathedral in the world!  I always thought that the Vatican and St. Peter’s would be considered the biggest, but they do not have true characteristics of a cathedral (they are basilicas).  My Spanish Art History professor gave the tour and it was in Spanish, so I tried to grasp as much as I could.  It was cool to visit this architectural landmark as it was the topic of many lectures in my Islamic Art and Architecture Class back at UNC.  What’s the connection?  Well, the cathedral used to be a mosque and the large tower that is now the bell tower was the minaret in which was used for the call to prayer.  You can see what part was the mosque by the open courtyard with trees.  That is a characteristic of mosques as they attempt to replicate the house of Mohammad.  Thus the building dates back to 9^th century.  But since then the building has undergone cycles of ownership in which parts were destroyed, rebuilt, and added on.  In the building there are over 100,000 pieces of art and our tour that lasted one hour only exposed us to about 15% of the building.  It is enormous.  Every nook and cranny is filled with some type of history and some type of alter.  Even Christopher Columbus is buried here.  Other countries believe they have the remains of Christopher Columbus, but Spain was the only country to allow DNA tests, and the DNA test showed it was actually him.  The rest of his family is also buried there.  But because his body was transported among many countries after dying, it is possible that each country has a few of his remains.  There are two large organs that border each side of a giant choir chamber on the opposite side of the main alters.  The main alter was stunning.  The entire wall behind it was made of three dimensional gold sculptors of different bible stories and religious figures.  There are about 30,000 different characters in the wall.  On top of the wall is a 7 meter high (I think) crucifix made of gold.  The rest of the place was as stunning from the beginning to end.  At the end of the tour we got to climb the 37 story tower to take pictures of Sevilla. 

School is getting underway.  I am going to post pictures of the school and family later.  We are supposed to go get tapas tomorrow with our Senora but might have to wait since it is supposed to rain all day.  Her daughter is staying with us for a week, so that now makes 5 people and 1 bathroom.  Everything is going well.  Classes are getting underway, and I’m still learning things every day.  Hope all is well in the good ole US of A.

The only cathedral in Europe with a crocodile. The emperor once had control of the cathedral, and at his daughter's wedding there were many exotic animals.  The crocodile was kept in the cathedral coutyard.  There is also an elephant's tusk behind the crocodile.   

The golden wall behind the alter.  This is a side view.

Where they do baptisms. It was carved out of one solid block of marble.  Very special place to be baptized here in Seville.

One of the two organs. 

The main door to the cathedral.  It is never opened unless the cardinal comes.

Large columns and high arches.

Tomb of Chrisopher Columbus.  (Sorry it's blurry)

Courtyard.

View from the tower (not the highest overview of the album)

La Giralda at night.

Colin's Next Page's photostream

Colin's Next Page's photostream on Flickr.

Check out some pictures from my trip.