Day #28 - Madrid, Spain - Bull Fighting

Bull ready to charge picador

Final act

Matador performing with bull

Matador with bull

Bull after banderillas placed barbed sticks

Sunday, April 11th

Today was another great weather day. Actually - I think I'll need to start wearing suntan lotion. That's a good thing. I've been staying up extremely late the past few days as I monitor/watch the Masters here at night. So, mornings haven't started too early.

I went for a 15 mile run late morning/early afternoon. Just to explain, I'm currently training for an upcoming marathon in Peru (Machu Picchu Marathon) in early June. The reason I bring up running on this blog is because it's a big part of my trip - the training and different logistics. I'm trying to run a marathon on every continent and in every state. I have 2/7 continents completed - with 3 coming up over the next year (South America, Europe, Antartica). I currently have 14/50 states completed.

My brother and I are both doing the 50 states marathons. It is because of him, I've decided to take this on. Back in 2002, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes - meaning his body no longer produces insulin and he must take injections the rest of his life. Within the past 2 weeks, his son has been diagnosed with the same condition.

Now, for most of us, running a marathon is hard enough, he has a whole lot more on his mind. He's incredible. He's helping create awareness of diabetes along the way. He was the lead story on the 10pm news in Missoula, Montana. He's been on St. Louis TV and in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He also does speeches all over in support of the cause.

When he took this on, I decided to run as many as I could with him in support. He has a little more aggressive schdule than me on completion time, but it's great to run together when we can. My goal is to do 3 marathons a year every year until I turn 50. I have 36 more marathons and 12 more years to do it. I've completed my 3 for this year already. I figure it will help keep me in shape, help support my brother, and give me a chance to experience different parts of the country.

After running today, I went to a bullfighting match at night. Has anybody seen a bullfight before? Wow - this was unbelievable stuff. I can't even fathom what I witnessed. Let me try to explain (Note - I did come back and do a little research so I have some meaning behind events)

First off, I can't believe this is allowed to take place. With different animal activists groups, etc out there - this would have to be the worst thing one could ever witness. Dog-fighting - that is the innocence of a newborn child compared to this.

I get to the stadium, seating is sold based on "sunny" seats, which are cheaper, or "shady" seats (more expensive). That's how the tickets were priced - giving more weight to shade than the level of seat in the stadium. I was good with the sun so I paid 10 euro for my ticket ($13). The stadium was about half full. I learned that this was considered a novillada. This means that the bulls are only 3 years old and the matadors are not "full matadors" yet - they are called novilleros - or matadors in training. Events with 4 year old bulls are greater are called a corrida. True matadors fight in these bull fights.

I sit down, not knowing what to expect at all. As I'm a huge sports fan, I'm assuming there's a point system or some means to keep score. In the ring, there are toreros with pink capes (or capotes) running around. A bull is released into the ring. The toreros flash their capotes, getting the bull to charge them all around the ring. The bull consistently misses, sometimes nearly sticking it's horns into the ground. The bull is highly aggitated, with foam dripping from it's mouth and nostrils. There are 6 bullfights of the night, each lasting about 25-30 minutes each. This first part, with the toreros harassing the bull, last about 5-10 minutes. At this point I asked the guy next to me: "Are bulls considered intelligent animals". He said, "No, they are not known for their brains" I just couldn't believe the bull would continually charge the capotes, only to hit nothing - time and time again.

Next, a man on an armored horse (called a picador) enters the ring. There are 2 white rings in the stadium. The picador must stay on the outside of the exterior ring. The toreros try to get the bull to stay on the inside of the interior ring. Goal - to get the bull to charge the picador at some distance. Wow - what a site to see. The bull hits the horse with such force, that it can actually knock it over. I did see this once during the night. The picador's task duing this charge is to stick the bull behind the head with a pica (or lance with metal blade at the end). He's trying to weaken the neck muscles so the bull will lower its head easier for the kill - coming later. I've been told that horses are known to get killed during these picador charges.

Now, the bull is starting to bleed profusely from the back of the neck. The toreros are getting it to run around again - the bull is growing agitated. Next phase of the 3 segment process of the bull fight is the entrance of the banderillos. These are toreros who have barbed sticks. The goal is to stick these into the back of the head - same spot just jabbed by the picador. 3 banderillos stick 2 of these barbs a piece into the bull. These barbs are now hanging off the bull. The bull is spasmic now. It's bucking, trying to get the sticks off its back. Blood is pouring out, the sticks are flailing around, the bull is charging any torero he gets his eyes on. This second part is supposed to get the bull fired up again - after maybe being tired from his attack of the picador.

3rd and final stage of the bullfight - enter the matador. The matador uses a red cape (muleta) for his show. He gets the crowd into it - getting the bull to charge him again and again. The goal of a good matador is to get the bull to pass as close to him as possible. Many matadors get killed during this process. Luckily - I did not see this happen. After playing it up to the crowd, the matador goes to the side and gets a special sword. His goal is to get the bull to lower its head and then stick the sword between the shoulder blades, severing the aorta - killing the bull. The matador has 10 minutes to complete the killing. Often times, they do not successful place the sword. The crowd begins to get aggitated, as they are hoping for a humane killing of the bull (Really?). Finally, the matador sticks the sword, the bull sways around for about 5-10 seconds and then falls to its death. The crowd goes wild. People cheer with more enthusiasm if it was consideed a good show and a nice clean death.

4 men on horses come out - they attach 2 ropes to the bulls horns, and drag him out of the areana. Men with rakes come out and rake over all the blood on the ground. This process goes on for 6 different bulls each bullfight. There are 3 matadors - each matador kills 2 bulls a piece.

The last bullfight of the evening must have been a pretty good one. The matador killed the bull on the first shot. And there were many close calls on the charges of the bull. Because of this, the crowd roared and waived white flags. At this point, the president of the ring, can present the matador with a prize. One ear of the bull - good, 2 ears of the bull - great, 2 ears and a tail - fanatstic. This particular matador was presetned with 2 ears.

Sorry if this story is a bit disturbing - try watching it live. I wanted to recall the events of the night, that's why I wrote this out. This is a strong Spanish tradition.

I took the metro home in a somewhat disturbed state of mind. I called my sister via Skype. She let me watch the Masters on her TV from the webcam on her computer. Skype is awesome. That's the end of my really weird day.