Bull fight in Sevilla

After our long night of dancing during Feria we slept in before the big day of the bull fight. Kelsey and I met Chuck and Jodi at a metro stop near the Plaza de Toros and prepared ourselves for an amazing experience. None of us had seen a bull fight before and didn't know much about them. We got to our seats a little before the fight started and watched the whole arena fill up with Spaniards.

I kept trying to compare the bull fight to an american football game but I couldn't do that in any sense. During the fight the audience was almost completely silent.

While I took this picture it was so quiet that I could hear a man eating sunflower seeds 10 seats away from me. I even got a stare down from somebody who heard my camera shutter when I took the picture. Everyone was on edge and they really show a lot of respect for the art of bull fighting. 

Each bullfight has 3 matadors and 6 bulls. Every matador has to kill 2 bulls and if his kills are good he can be awarded “trophies.” The 3^rd matador we saw had a great first fight and after killing the bull with a clean stab at the end, the crowd exploded with cheering. They started waving white handkerchiefs and clapping for him to be awarded a trophy. An official cut one ear off the bull and awarded it to the matador who then took a bow and took a lap around the plaza. People threw their hats, roses and one person even threw him a live chicken!  

After the 6 bulls were killed the 3 matadors and their respective groups of helpers made a lap around the plaza and accepted the applause of the crowd with tipped hats. It was amazing to see how much influence the crowd has on the fight and can control different aspects of the fight with whistling, hissing or clapping. It was an amazing experience that I am glad to have spent the money on. I'm sure Kelsey could have done without the whole killing part of the fight but that is all part of the culture.

This week we are going back to the Feria festival and later this week we are going to a futbol (soccer) game. I hope you all have enjoyed these blogs and I'm glad to say that as of now I am all caught up on my posts. I highly recommend reading up on Feria and bullfighting in general if you want to know more about them. I know I have been brief when talking about these things but they really do deserve some more reading into.

The next post may be coming soon with more pictures from Feria so keep an eye open for that. Adios!