La mar: One Week

Alright so today was the first free day we've had since arriving in Alicante, and by that I mean no scheduled activities. Just time for fun activities, or funtivities if you are a fan of The Office. My funtivities for the day included sleep, more sleep, a plethora of delicious food at lunch and dinner, and a bullfight.

I'll start with the food. Mi madre, Charo, is an excellent cook and I have been eating vast quantities of delectable foods. As I mentioned in an earlier post, lunch is the most extravagent meal of the day. Today I had bread, pasta, chicken leg, potatoes, grapes, and a chocolate croissant to top it all off. So yummy. Dinner was just as spectacular with a couple of grilled ham and cheeses, bread, and a plate of this vegetable mix. I'm eating quite well. The biggest difference between eating here than back home is I eat colossal meals but snack much less. I'm definitely eating healthier here, although there are a few KFCs scattered around the city I'll probably get to trying pretty soon cos you know I like my chicken fried...

On a lighter note, I woke up this afternoon and sat down to watch the television with mi padre. It was pretty much the Spanish version of America's Funniest Videos, except at one point it featured a topless woman trying to get guys attention at a horse track race. I just thought, wow, this would never be on mainstream tv on a lazy sunday afternoon in the United States when kids and families are probably watching. But then again it makes me wonder why we are so tolerant of violence in American media but are so uptight about the human body and sex. I mean, guns kill people, and boobs don't.

Now for an abrupt transition, this evening, as Nick just posted, many of the American students went to a corrida de toros (bullfight). It was in a circular stadium type venue that must be a couple hundred years old. It wasn't a bullfight with huge adult bulls and adult toreros (bullfighter), but with torero apprentices and younger (but still tough, fast, and reckless) bulls. There were three toreros whom I would guess were around my age, and six bulls..

The bulls get killed, and it's not a quick death. One at a time, each torero went up against a bull while at the same time a horn section would blare music. After maybe ten minutes making the bull dance around, the horns would stop, the crowd would fall still, and it was time for the torero to slay the bull. This involved lining it up, making it charge, and piercing with a three food sword through the top of the bull. The bulls would need to be stabbed two or three times before they would collapse with blood pouring out the wounds and its mouth. Like I said, it was not a slow or painless death.

One of the toeros got cocky and tried to go around the back with one of the bulls and got absolutely bundled and didn't return to fight his second bull. The champion of the day ended up killing three bulls. It was quite and experience that I don't know how to fully put in words just yet- and I'm still trying to make up my mind on how I feel about bullfights. Either way, el hijo de mi padre (my padre's son) who is in his thirties and came to lunch explained to me (in Spanish, and I'm pretty sure I have the translation correct) 20% of Spaniards like the bullfight, 20% are indifferent, and 60% despise it. I've heard its even banned in Barcelona now. Anyways, here's a few pics other people took: