Snow White & the Six Bulls 

Sophia, Kristin, Martha and I in the Sorolla Museum 
As part of my program, we took several excursions such as to Toledo, Madrid, Segovia, Sevilla, Córdoba, Ronda and Grazalema. To explain first when I say “program,” at the university I attended (Centro de Lenguas Modernas—part of the University of Granada) every person is a foreigner who is there through a program which organizes the schedules, events, etc. Centro de Legnuas Modernas is a section of the University of Granada, but is reserved exclusively for foreigners, which I was disappointed to discover because it limited our interaction with Spanish people.

Luke does not like selfies...

So Madrid, five days with my entire group (approximately 26 of us), beginning with El Prado Museum. We were very limited on time, but in the 3 hours that I had, I was extraordinarily impressed. It definitely enhanced my experience being in a contemporary art class, so I was able to soak in the significance of Goya, Velázquez and El Greco’s works. We next went to the Reina Sofia Museum, which is a more modern exhibition, but still stars Goya’s “Desastres de la guerra” and Picasso’s El Guernica. My terrible favorite (favorite work of the most horrible ones that I saw) was a white room, basically empty, with a  stick with one short, black strip, titled “Portrait of my Mother,” –poor woman did not raise her son right.

Michael and Maddie

I was able to meet up with two friends of my US university who were studying in Madrid, saw El Escorial and then that evening, I attended my first and last bullfight. Before criticizing my decision, you have to study the culture, history and process of raising and killing a bull. Although I am not in agreement with it, after seeing the “picada novillada” (type of bullfight with less experienced fighters), I was able to see how it is an art form. Each “torero,” or in this case “novillada,” kills two bulls. The process goes like this: first there is the great procession of all the fighters, and with the entrance of the bull (“toro”) the newbies practice their skills with the cape, hiding behind a wooden wall once the bull gets a bit crafty. Next, a man on a horse enters the ring (called a “plaza,” hence “plaza de toros”) with a lance-like tool and jabs it into the bull. The bull, obviously furious that he is in pain, attacks the horse, but it is protected and absurdly calm. The purpose of this step is to weaken the bull, protect the torero and slow down the heartbeat of the bull so that it does not suffer a heart attack from the stress of its first encounter with humans.

Plaza de Toros, Madrid

Already wounded, the newbies begin to stick hooked pegs in the bull to further weaken it before the actual fighter (torero/novillada) enters the ring. The torero practices his tricks with the cape, and then brings out a sword, which he jabs through the neck-area of the bull to kill it—that is the truly gruesome part. The bull dies within two minutes, after which they place a knife through its head to assure its death, then several mules haul off the corpse while men with rakes hide the blood. The entire process lasts about 20 minutes (each bull that is) because they have found that after 20 minutes the bull learns the tricks of the torero, and is then able to avoid them and hurt the human, so for human safety each section of the fight is signaled by the band.  Reflecting back, I am glad to have seen this aspect of Spanish culture, but have no desire to relive it.

Segovia & its aqueduct

During our travel to Madrid, we made a stop in Segovia, which is famous for its Roman aqueduct and Disneyesque castle. Queen Isabel lived there for a time, and it is said that Walt Disney designed Snow White’s castle after it—I would not be surprised because it is very fairytale-like. Katherine, Kristin, Luke and I had lunch in a precious restaurant with a great view of the castle from below (and yes parents, I ordered fish). 

Luke, Katherine, Kristin and I