Carnaval

Yesterday we ventured to Ciudad Rodrigo to celebrate Carnaval. You want to talk about an experience...that was mind blowing for a lot of reasons. First of all, imagine a place where all social norms rearding alcohol have been discarded...We got to Ciudad Rodrigo at 9:30 AM and there was an obscene amount of drunk people...at 9:30 AM...Now let me tell you how my day started: At approximately 9:45 AM we're all walking along, and a very intoxicated individual literally dives/slides right into my left shin and I face plant the ground. and him. Welcome to Ciudad Rodrigo?Awkward...and painful (I reopened my mountain wound, so that felt less than great). Not more than an hour later we walk into this semi-empty bar/cafe (I was looking for some coffee) and I get party-boyed by two more random drunken strangers. Mehhh. So we leave and go walking around. AND THEN!!!!! WE WATCH RUNNING OF THE BULLS! (what what?) which is when the bulls run through the streets (the streets are semi-gated so as long as you don't go into the gated area, you're more or less safe...unless the bull tries to take down the gate as it did right by us...scary) But tons of people run in the streets with the bulls (which just really doesn't seem like a good idea to me. I don't understand the desire to do that...)

After getting lunch at a local place we decided to do something crazy...attend a bullfight. (which if you're unaware is actually a violent/torturous slaughter...aka a "cultural experience") But that was really a doozy. I didn't realize how much blood is involved in these kind of things. And watching them stab the bull and then stick these spikes in it, and then go at it with a sword...it was rough. Oh gosh and at the end after it's collapsed to the ground they it usually isn't dead so someone comes and like stabs it in the spinal cord or something, and there's this horrible twictch and then the bull is dead. If the matador did well, meaning fancy moves and a good 'kill' then they award the matador with the bull's ears. So they cut the ears off...right then and there...(sometimes before they've killed the bull after it has collapsed to the ground)  It's really hard for me to understand why this is such an accepted and popular event- I thought there was much more art and choreography involved but I was slightly disappointed...

What was I not disappointed in? The second matador gave me his flowers! (We had front row seats, and the matadors all like got their swords and stuff from right in front of us, and this man told the matador we were americans, so he turned around and handed his flowers to me! Happy day!)

Anyhow thats all!
Amor!!

Rachel