5/30

Today was 90 degrees! It was very very hot! We went to class in the morning, which was interesting (as always!) and then after I grabbed a quick sandwich before the screening of our next spanish film, Solderos de Salamanca (I think that's what it's called). After that I came home, did my medical press releases for the internship, and took a nap!

This evening Rosa made delicious potato salad, chicken, and fruit for dessert! Mel and I wanted to go find her friend's favorite truffle place, but we were unable to! We wandered around for a while before giving up and deciding to try again another day! We found a cute little tapas place and got some bread and cheese. There were tons of crazy dogs out but I was unable to get any pictures, sorry!

BULL FIGHT!

Just got back from the Bull Fight at Plaza de los Torros. This is an experience that I don't think I would repeat, but that I appreciate having witnessed because it's an incredible cultural aspect of Spain!

The stadium was packed, as you can see:




Now, before the games began (six bulls were killed, by the way) there was some sort of ceremony with the torreros (who did the fighting) and their assistants who would anger the bull with pink capes, and the horses that drag the dead bull off the ground, etc... These men were VERY skilled, they performed a little dance with their horses, and the amount of skill that they have with riding is almost indescribable... Here are some pictures from the opening ceremonies. Now I don't know who each person is but I'm interested in doing some internet searches to learn!








Now, I won't put up too many gruesome pictures, I didn't photograph the terrible scenes full of blood, and I was also far enough away to not have perfectly clear pictures of the mess going on.











Now, one thing I learned is that as a bull-fighter, the crowd has no respect for you if the bull suffers. Generally speaking, the same number of stabs are used, and each round uses a different "weapon" to ultimately finish the job hopefully at one moment. (Sorry if it's too gruesome for you guys!). There was one bull-fighter who was unable to succeed in that, and his bull suffered. He was booed by the crowd and no given an opportunity to walk around receiving flowers and alcohol, hats, etc... from the crowd members. These pictures (once again, not too gruesome) show the bull-fighter having failed. He received no cheers.





Also, I wanted to make a huge point of saying that the bull-fighters are INCREDIBLY attractive. All had long brown hair that flowed in the wind while they were riding their magnificent horses.... haha! They received so many flowers, love, cheers, etc... from the crowds. I think they have quite a lot of success with the ladies...





Once a bull was killed, the special horses that were in the opening ceremony came out to take it away.




Also, check out this view from the balcony, and a few pictures of us in the group!






So, all in all, the bullfight was very interesting a great experience! It was pretty violent, but when I took a step back and saw how much skill and talent is involved, as well as the cultural meaning to the people watching and participating, it's really interesting! SCARIEST PART-- Bull jumped into the crowd!! Nobody was hurt, but this is indeed a crazy event!

5/29

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't written in the past few days. I've been really busy getting everything set up for my class and internship, and I've not been exploring as much! Today was beautiful weather though, and with Mel at a scuba class and Rosa out with her daughter for the day, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to explore the area around my house a little more.

Before I went very far at all, I stumbled across a public garden where I read for a few hours. There were some pretty nice roses:







The garden also had some pretty strange sculptures all around...







And, as always, I bumped into a cute little dog! I can't remember it's name... one I've never heard before. He was incredibly jumpy and energetic, and it took a lot of effort by his owner (who was a nice woman from France) to get him into a picture!





On my walk back, I saw these two fountains (VERY close to my house):





And, of course, I had to go get some sandwiches! I'm actually addicted to that little chain restaurant I mentioned the first day. I go there every day, and the sandwiches are so cheap! Like one euro! I've tried pretty much all of them....

I'm hoping to go to a fair today and if so, there will be plenty of other pictures to look forward to!

Whitney

5/26

Today was beautiful! I went to class at 11 and then to my internship, which i will now be doing from home or in the computer lab! No metro ride for me! I haven't posted in a few days, so I will cover more than just today.

Yesterday (Tuesday, 5/25) I went to my internship for the first time. It was pretty strange to be working in a tiny little living room instead of an office, but now I will be working from the computer lab as I said before. After work, I came back and hung out for a while before having dinner with Rosa and Mel-- hamburger (no bun, they never use buns here) and a really cool veggie dish that had potatoes, hard boiled eggs, cauliflower, and some really spicy flavorings, as well as pumpkin soup and fruit for dessert! Rosa is a great cook. Soon I'll take a picture of her and post it here. After dinner, and a pretty long day, Mel and I decided to head out on the town to cheer up a little! These pictures are from places all around Plaza del Sol, which is downtown, and which is also a spot where we spend lots of time.




Only two pictures... I know! The boy is Raimundo.. from Italy. He is in our group. Sorry for the short post! Tonight I'm going to probably stay in, we've been going places every single night and I want a break and a good night's sleep! If I do anything fun though, I will have something to add to this post!

Spain continues to be incredibly beautiful and really fun!

Random pictures I stole from Mel's Camera!

Here are a few random pictures I wanted to show:

1.) these guys ran out into the cross walk at every red light and did a little routine! Then they would ask for money. Took lots of pictures!





2.) Here I am in the aston martin place--- made friends with the guy that worked there and he let us take pictures with the cars!





3.) Completely random!