Blog Day 8

---

Looking Inward

This Wednesday, we did one of the most cultural things yet on this entire trip and went to a bull fight. I was extremely excited going into it, having learned a lot about bull fights in Spanish class and was super happy I would get to see and experience one in person. The bull fight itself was very interesting. It reminded me a lot of a derby race or baseball game in America. Everyone was dressed up, the seats were packed, lots of yelling and throwing things, overall it was an extremely fun time. Going to this bull fight taught me how to look at something through a lens that I don’t really have. It was very easy to watch the fight and think “oh this is animal cruelty and torturous and wrong” but I needed to separate myself from that opinion if I was going to truly experience the event. As Culture Smart states on page 78 in its chapter on customs and traditions, bullfighting is considered an art in Spain rather than a sport. So, to understand it, I had to look at it through the perspective of “I can’t really see the art like the Spanish do but I need to appreciate it as such” and when I did, I really started to see the art in it and learned that sometimes it’s best to detach myself from situations and see it in a completely new way.

The Relational Level

This bullfight also was one of the biggest things that divided our group. Many people did not want to go for the animal cruelty aspect and others did want to go to experience the culture, as we are only in Madrid a few times in our lives. It was very easy in this circumstance to almost villanize or dislike the group you were not in. People that didn’t go could argue that those who went didn’t care about animals and supported their cruelty. Those who did go could easily think that those who stayed were being overly sensitive and not caring about the Spanish culture. Overall, I think we as a group did a good job of not doing this. Those who stayed just respected us who wanted to go and those who went understood why people wouldn’t want us to go. I was very thankful that both sides were understanding and didn’t allow it to change our opinions of each other.

The Social Side

Obviously, the biggest thing I learned from the bull fight was the social aspects and importance of it. Page 79 of Culture Smart discusses the importance of bulls not only in bull fights, but all other areas of Spain as well. Bulls are present in almost every party in Spain and they are used as mascots, meals, main events, and all sorts of other things. Going to the bull fight really showed me how true this was. It seemed as though the bull and matador were on equal planes as fighters until the matador won however after the bull had fallen, the matador went with a smaller knife and ended the pain quickly as almost a respectful or humane way to kill the bull. After, they tied the bull to horses and drug it around and out of the arena. This is a way of honoring the bull’s fight and persistence during the event which I thought was interesting that that’s how the culture feels about the bull. It is less of a man killing a bull and more of a man fighting an honorary contestant and usually winning but doing it artfully and respectfully.

---