No More Ireland :(

Due to the volcano erupting in ICELAND, my flight got canceled to Ireland. I was hoping that we would be able to make it out, but found out yesterday it was canceled. I applied for a refund on my plane ticket and the hostel. We lost the down payment on the hostel, and I haven't gotten ahold of the ticket office yet. I almost don't want to get a refund on my concert ticket, it's just so sad that I don't get to go.

So now we're going to go check out the spring fair here in Seville, then try and think of something fun to do later this week. Sigh. That stupid volcano ruined my perfect opportunity to have an amazing week in Ireland. I guess we'll see what happens from here. :(

Last month in Seville!

So I have been neglecting to blog about my everyday life in Seville. The past few weeks I have just been focusing on my classes. I have now finished my internship, got an A in my life and culture class, have this week off for the Spring Fair in Seville, and only have one week left of my literature class until I come home. Because of the volcano that erupted in Iceland, flights to Ireland have been postponed. We’re praying that they resume by Tuesday, since that’s when we leave for Dublin to see the Dropkick Murpy’s concert. I hope it works out. Then the following Friday after my last final, I head out to Rome! 4 days in Rome, then back to Seville to pick up my stuff and get to Madrid to come back home to the states.
We’ve had more rain these past weeks.  We decided not to go to a beach this weekend since it was supposed to rain, so me, Kristen, and Teena went to Jerez, a small town about 1 hour train ride from Sevilla, to visit the bodega (winery) of Tio Pepe. The name of the company is Gonzales Byass, but their famous sherry wine is called Tio Pepe, or Uncle Jo. It was such a pretty winery, we got to see how they make brandy, sherry, signatures on the barrels from the famous people that have visited the bodegas, and try Tio Pepe and Croft wines. It was a lot of fun.
A few weeks ago we went to a Sevilla Futbol Club soccer game! It was half price tickets, and I even bought a Seville scarf. It was a lot of fun getting to see the people of Seville support their home team in the most popular sport over here. We beat Tenerife 3-0. It was a great game, even though I don’t’ know much about soccer.
These past 2 Saturdays we’ve visited the beaches of Cadiz and Matalascañas in Huelva. It’s fun to try different beaches, but mainly it was nice to see the sun. Plus, walking in the Atlantic Ocean in fun. 
I uploaded a few pictures last week of some normal sights of Seville, and some pictures of the Spanish grocery stores. I don’t know what it is, but I really enjoy shopping at the grocery stores. It’s so interesting to just walk down the aisles and see all the different things they have. I’m going to miss the Spanish grocery stores, and the cheap Spanish cookies.
Last night we went to Ashley’s house because her housemom’s son was having a 30th birthday party. It was really fun to see a typical Spanish house party. They don’t do that very often, so it was awesome to get to be a part of it. There was lots of smoking, beer, guitar playing, and singing. I met a guy from Japan, Germany, France, and all over Spain. It was a great cultural experience as well.
Back to the rain. I’ve decided that I DO like rainy days. I prefer thunderstorms, but rain is nice too, either when I am in my house nice and dry, or when it’s a summer rain. I just don’t like the cold that comes with being wet and in the rain. Today after a walk in el centro with Kristen, I ran into a DOWNPOUR on my way home. Even though my pants and shoes were wet, I didn’t feel cold. So I ended up taking off my shoes and walking through all the puddles on my way home. Then I lay in my bed listening to the sounds of rain, thunder, and lightning. It was really nice and peaceful.
I can’t believe it’s less than 3 weeks until I go home. My time here has really passed quickly. I’m excited to be home, but I am starting to get sad to leave. Oh well. I’m going to make the most of the rest of my time here.

Bull Fight!!!!

What a great April week in Sevilla. This past Wednesday, I went to my first bull fight! The bull fighting season starts right before the Spring Fair (this week) and goes through October. it was such an interesting cultural experience. Apparently the bull fights in Seville are some of the most famous. This week they’ve had famous bull fighters such as El Juli and El Cid. (I don’t even really know who they are, but trust me, they’re famous over here). So here’s a little info about the bull fights:

There are 3 bull fighters at each correo, or bull fight. A bull is called a toro, and a bullfighter is thus called a toreador. There is the main toreador, called the matador who actually kills the bull. Each bullfighter has other toreadors who help him throughout the fight. Each fighter gets 2 bulls, and they go until the bull is killed. The reason why bullfighting is so controversial right now is because they kill all the bulls in the ring during the fights.
Starting the fight, all 3 toreadors and their teams walk out into the ring and present themselves to the President. Then the first bullfighter and his team prepare for their first bull. These bulls are bread for bravery and aggression. They have never seen a human on foot, nor have they ever been outside their pastures. Each bull wears colored tags that show which breeder they come from as well.
When the bull enters the ring, the toreadors use their bright pink on one side, yellow on the other capes, or capas to distract the bull and draw his attention to different parts of the ring. Then the riders on padded horses, called picadors, ride out, they use a long spear to stick the bull in the back of his neck to weaken the neck muscle. Then, three of the toreadors use long sticks with barbs in them, called banderillos, to stick into the bull’s neck muscles to further weaken it. Each one of these toreadors gets a chance to stick 2 barbed sticks into the bull, 6 in total. In my opinion, these are the bravest guys in the ring, because they don’t have capes to distract the bull, and they have to get really close to the bull in order to get these things into the bull.
After they get these sticks in, it’s time for the main event: the Matador. The main bull fighter comes back into the ring with the famous red cape. It’s this bullfigher’s job to study how the bull moves, and conquer the bull. The matador uses the cape along with his knowledge of the bull to get the bull to charge the cape when the matador wants him to. He uses sounds and the cape to make the bull charge and do a few passes. Each time, the bull charges the cape and the matador pivots on his foot so the bull can charge again. It’s really difficult to explain just how much effort and patience it takes for the matador to understand the bull, as well as the majestic way the matador conquers the bull and has control over the bull. By the end, it seems as if the bull is doing exactly what the matador wants him to do, when he wants him to do it. It’s pretty amazing.
And now for the climax. It’s time for the matador to kill the bull. With his slightly curved sword in the palm of his hand, he lines up in front of the bull. He has to stick the sword into the right place in the bull’s neck in order to miss the vertebrae and make it to the heart or the chest cavity. He has to have the bull charge him, therefore charging into the sword, in order to have enough power to get the sword into the bull. A good kill comes when the matador gets the sword all the way in on the first try and hits the heart. Right after getting the sword in, the matador and other toreadors will crowd around the bull until he finally dies If done well, it only takes a minute or two before the bull finally dies. If it’s a bad kill, the matador will either have to try to get the sword in again, or they will just have to stick a knife into the bull’s brain to kill it immediately.
After the bull is dead, a team of horses rides out and the bull is tied to the back of them and dragged out of the ring. Then a clean-up crew sweeps away any remains of blood or deep footprint to get ready for the next bull.
If a bull comes out of the ring and is injured or lame in anyway, he is not fit to fight. They then bring out a few cows (lade bulls) and have the bull follow the pretty cows out of the ring, where they kill him outside of the ring. All the bulls that participate in the bullfight, even if they are handicapped and cannot fight, end up dying. If the matador doesn’t kill the bull, they will be stuck in the brain to instantly kill them. One of the bulls we saw broke one of his horns when he charged the side of the ring. Because of this, they brought the cows into the ring, then the bull followed them out. After he had left the ring, they would have killed him back in his pen or holding area. So the bull fight we saw, there were 7 bulls killed that day.
Sound a bit sad? I guess it is. But their entire life, they are treated well in plentiful pastures with lots of lady cows around. They are only bred for the bull fight, so they have no other purpose in life. The bull fight was a bit bloody, but it was really interesting to see this cultural event. It was so different from anything else I’ve seen. I actually enjoyed seeing it. I hope you enjoy the pictures, although they really can’t do justice to the actual event.

Semana Santa in Sevilla

Semana Santa in Seville, Spain is quite a different experience than it is in America. It’s a really big deal here, where they celebrate an entirely different way than we do. Every day, starting Palm Sunday, the entire city is filled with people coming from all over the world and all around Seville to see the churches’ procession.
A brotherhood consists of people (some only men, some men and women), and depending on how many people they have, their processions may consist of hundreds of brothers. There are many different brotherhoods, each based out of a different church. Many have been around for hundreds of years, and own valuable religious pieces, such as crucifixes and candelabras, that they keep in their home church and bring out for Semana Santa. They wear robes of penitence when they walk through the processions, each wearing pointed hats much like those of the Ku Klux Klan. Each brotherhood wears a different color, or set of colors with their own seal embroidered somewhere on it.
A paso (pah-so) is like a float in a parade. Normally, each brotherhood’s procession has a Christ scene at the beginning of the procession (usually one of the stations of the cross) and a virgin figure at the end. Most of the virgins look the same with the exception of eye color and pattern on her train. Each of them rests under a canopy on a float filled with candles and flowers. She also has a crown on her head, usually gold and with many rays coming forth. Usually she is pictured crying with open hands, because of her son’s death. They each, also, have a long train that drapes over the back of the float.
A cofradilla (co-fra-dee-ya) is the name of the procession in spanish. It is the procession of one brotherhood, with their Christ figure in front, and their virgin figure in back. In between them walk all of the penitent brothers in their outfits, walking in 2 lines down the streets. Brothers vary in age, even very young children walk in the processions (with their parents close by to pull them out when they get tired). The main reason that the brothers walk in the procession is a show of penance. Some of the brothers actually carry the pasos, which each weigh a LOT, hundreds of pounds. These men wear workout-type clothes, as well as a rolled up towel on their shoulders to help protect them from the weight of the paso. There are backups as well, to take over after a while, so the other guys can take a break. Each paso will walk about 50 yards, then stop and put the paso down for a little while. When they make the turns, it gets really interesting to see all the practice and coordination they have had to put into this week.
Depending on where the church is located tells how long their walk will be. Some really far away churches have to walk about 14 hours. Each brotherhood carries their pasos to the Cathedral to be blessed and back. Their only real break is when they get to the Cathedral. That’s when they get a chance to go to the bathroom, before starting the journey back to their church. The whole time that they are out walking through the streets, people are walking alongside the procession to watch it go past. The bands that they have in the processions periodically play music to help keep the beat for all those walking. The guys under the floats walk in time to the music.
That’s about all I can write about Semana Santa in Seville, because it’s just something that needs to be seen. It’s such a different experience than anything I’ve seen in then United States. I can see why they make such a big deal out of it here. I hope everyone someday gets a chance to see what Semana Santa in Spain is all about.