Warning: If you have a hard time with animals getting hurt, a fondness for bovines, feel like eating anytime today, or you are an animal rights activist - this post is not for you. It is not as bad as the Jungle portion of Planet Earth where the big gorilla eats the other gorilla's face off, but there is blood and it is inflicted by humans. Also, this is the longest post of all time.
In honor of Riobamba's independence Day they hold a 3 day weekend of festivities. These festivites include: parades that last 8 hours, bull fights, rodeos, concerts, art exhibits, and a lot of drinking {they hand out free alcohol on the street to anyone over the age of 5}. The festivities started yesterday and they continue on through Monday. Yesterday was the annual Corrida de Toros {bull fight} in Riobamba. Oliver and I had planned on attending this event the entire we have been in Ecuador {although, I have to admit that I had been trying to talk Oliver into going to the Amazon with our 3 day weekend instead of staying in Riobamba}, but we could have never planned on how unbelievable it was.
Upon arrival we were shuffled into a line where they tried to hand us free boxes of wine, cerveza, etc. We politely declined, they looked at us like we were insane, and then they lead us into the arena. Apparently we got in the correct line because they told us to go sit on the front row {we definitely did not pay for front row seats}, we tried to explain that we were supposed to sit in the middle section, but the guy just told us to sit on the front row...so we did as we were told. Only the wealthy people in Ecuador attend the bull fights, because the lower and middle class can not afford it {the tickets are $5-$20}. Once entering the arena, I did not feel like I was in Riobamba anymore, all of the people looked more Spanish than Ecuadorian and they were carrying expensive handbags, wearing fur coats, wide brimmed leather hats, and smoking pipes. Needless to say, Oliver and I stuck out like sore thumbs in our performance fleece and running shoes.
While enjoying the front row, a family came and asked if they could sit by us. They had two daughters, Sophie {11} and Pamela {7}, and were extremely nice. The little girls are soooo excited about the bull fights, they sit right next to me and tell me everything there is to know. They are intrigued by my camera, I was intrigued by their Sunflower Seeds, I let them take a couple of pictures, they shared their Sunflower Seeds; everyone is happy. Then all of a sudden the band starts playing, people started cheering and shouting "Viva Riobamba," and it all began.
The Toreros and Matadores prance out into the ring, wearing tights and smuggling plums. There are 3 Matadors and roughly 8 Toreros {Toreros are essentially Rodeo Clowns, they assist the Matadores}. Each Matador gets 2 fights with a bull, equaling 6 fights in one night. After the men in tights parade around for a couple of minutes, they let the first bull out.
The bull has a flower and some ribbons stuck in his back with what looks like a large thumb tack, he is bleeding. He is not too excited to see the Toreros/Matadores, and he starts charging immediately. The Torreros guide the bull around the ring with their magenta and yellow capes, and then usually the Matador does tricks with the bull {he kneels on the ground while the bull comes at him}. The Matador shows off a bit more, then guides the bull into the center of the ring with his Pink Capote {cape}, to prove that he can dominate the bull. After the Matador gets a feel for the bull and his energy, he cues the Picadores.
Two Picadores come out on the most massive horses I have ever seen {seriously, take 17 Clydesdales mutate them together and you have one of these bad boys}. The bull hates the Picadores and immediately starts raming the horse {this bothers me, I hate watching a horses get hurt}. Picador starts jabbing the bull in the back with a lance and wiggles it around. The bull backs up and calms down a bit, while gushing blood. Picadores are not allowed to enter the center of the ring.
Then, the Matador takes the bull into the center of the ring and tests the bulls energy. If the bull is not tired or hurt enough, he gets jabbed again by the Picador with the lance.
If one jabbing is enough, they bring out the Bandilleras {colored stick things}. The Toreros are the ones that put the two Bandilleras into the back of the bull, and it is quite something. They raise their arms above their heads, rise up on to their tip toes, start yelling at the bull, pike jump into the air, charge the bull, stab him in the back with the two Bandilleras, and then run like Hell.
And then, they do it again.
Once both sets of Bandilleras have been stabbed into the back of the bull, the Matador comes out into the center of the ring with his red cape.
He acts all dramatic for a while, and then starts talking to the bull. He guides the bull into the center of the ring and that is when the typical bull fight begins.
The Matador and the bull have at it for a while. The Matador has to wait until the bull is very tired and has his head down. Once the bull starts lowering his head the Matador stabs him in the back of the neck with a sword {it is the only place that you can stab him, because you have to get his lungs}.
...and then he dies...
This happened 6 times last night. There is such a culture/history behind it and it was amazing to witness first hand. The first three fights I was caught up in the whole event, but by the sixth one...I was ready to go. It got a little hard to watch after a while. I am glad that we went and I thought it was really interesting... Would I ever go again? ...hmmm, not sure...but Oliver would not. Do you wish you would have gone to the Amazon instead? ...don't know, I will tell you in a couple of weeks.
Upon arrival we were shuffled into a line where they tried to hand us free boxes of wine, cerveza, etc. We politely declined, they looked at us like we were insane, and then they lead us into the arena. Apparently we got in the correct line because they told us to go sit on the front row {we definitely did not pay for front row seats}, we tried to explain that we were supposed to sit in the middle section, but the guy just told us to sit on the front row...so we did as we were told. Only the wealthy people in Ecuador attend the bull fights, because the lower and middle class can not afford it {the tickets are $5-$20}. Once entering the arena, I did not feel like I was in Riobamba anymore, all of the people looked more Spanish than Ecuadorian and they were carrying expensive handbags, wearing fur coats, wide brimmed leather hats, and smoking pipes. Needless to say, Oliver and I stuck out like sore thumbs in our performance fleece and running shoes.
While enjoying the front row, a family came and asked if they could sit by us. They had two daughters, Sophie {11} and Pamela {7}, and were extremely nice. The little girls are soooo excited about the bull fights, they sit right next to me and tell me everything there is to know. They are intrigued by my camera, I was intrigued by their Sunflower Seeds, I let them take a couple of pictures, they shared their Sunflower Seeds; everyone is happy. Then all of a sudden the band starts playing, people started cheering and shouting "Viva Riobamba," and it all began.
The Toreros and Matadores prance out into the ring, wearing tights and smuggling plums. There are 3 Matadors and roughly 8 Toreros {Toreros are essentially Rodeo Clowns, they assist the Matadores}. Each Matador gets 2 fights with a bull, equaling 6 fights in one night. After the men in tights parade around for a couple of minutes, they let the first bull out.
The bull has a flower and some ribbons stuck in his back with what looks like a large thumb tack, he is bleeding. He is not too excited to see the Toreros/Matadores, and he starts charging immediately. The Torreros guide the bull around the ring with their magenta and yellow capes, and then usually the Matador does tricks with the bull {he kneels on the ground while the bull comes at him}. The Matador shows off a bit more, then guides the bull into the center of the ring with his Pink Capote {cape}, to prove that he can dominate the bull. After the Matador gets a feel for the bull and his energy, he cues the Picadores.
Two Picadores come out on the most massive horses I have ever seen {seriously, take 17 Clydesdales mutate them together and you have one of these bad boys}. The bull hates the Picadores and immediately starts raming the horse {this bothers me, I hate watching a horses get hurt}. Picador starts jabbing the bull in the back with a lance and wiggles it around. The bull backs up and calms down a bit, while gushing blood. Picadores are not allowed to enter the center of the ring.
Then, the Matador takes the bull into the center of the ring and tests the bulls energy. If the bull is not tired or hurt enough, he gets jabbed again by the Picador with the lance.
If one jabbing is enough, they bring out the Bandilleras {colored stick things}. The Toreros are the ones that put the two Bandilleras into the back of the bull, and it is quite something. They raise their arms above their heads, rise up on to their tip toes, start yelling at the bull, pike jump into the air, charge the bull, stab him in the back with the two Bandilleras, and then run like Hell.
And then, they do it again.
Once both sets of Bandilleras have been stabbed into the back of the bull, the Matador comes out into the center of the ring with his red cape.
He acts all dramatic for a while, and then starts talking to the bull. He guides the bull into the center of the ring and that is when the typical bull fight begins.
The Matador and the bull have at it for a while. The Matador has to wait until the bull is very tired and has his head down. Once the bull starts lowering his head the Matador stabs him in the back of the neck with a sword {it is the only place that you can stab him, because you have to get his lungs}.
...and then he dies...This happened 6 times last night. There is such a culture/history behind it and it was amazing to witness first hand. The first three fights I was caught up in the whole event, but by the sixth one...I was ready to go. It got a little hard to watch after a while. I am glad that we went and I thought it was really interesting... Would I ever go again? ...hmmm, not sure...but Oliver would not. Do you wish you would have gone to the Amazon instead? ...don't know, I will tell you in a couple of weeks.
17 comments:
whoa...didn't finish reading.. I did see the pictures though.. it made me cry. (I cried watching city slickers...cow..in river)-I dunno what's wrong with me. :)
I love the way you narriate stories Carly, I laughed out loud about thee smuggling of plumbs.
sorry if everyone is sicked out after the post...maybe I should take the dead cow off.
Love that you ate a little girls sunflower seeds! Ouch... yeah it might be hard to take 6 of those!
So, our friends were in Mexico and told us a story of going to an authentic bull fight....I'm not sure if I could take it but it's like you said, it's so apart of their culture and history! At least you can say you've seen one for real, right?
Wow, totally authentic. Your photos are crazy, realistic, and good.
Is it just me or does this story make you want to eat out at the old El Matador in Bountiful? Their chips and salsa are heavenly. Anyway, your pics are fabulous and I'm a little jealous of the experience. I didn't realize how brutal those things are-yikes.
I don't know the history but in all honesty I think that's so sad. I want to jab one of those little colorful guys and see how they like it... I wouldn't have been a very good audience member. Your pictures are awsome, as usual. What camera do you have?
this had to be quite an experience firsthand. It's kinda coincidental, because I actually watched the bull-fighting episode on the Simpson's last night. Grandpa Simpson was fighting the bulls, and Lisa was really appalled by the cruelness of it all. In the end Grandpa S. succumbed to Lisa, and let all the bulls free into the streets of Springfield.
Anyway, great pics.
What an experience! Glad you are seeing all these different things. Such a cultural experience. You will really be glad you have done all this once you are home! -Maeve
Lace - I use a Nikon D80. What camera do you have?
Well, at least they give the bull a nice pediecure before they slaughter them! I've been to one in person and they are pretty brutal. Great pictures and narrative Carly.... Tell Ozzy Hi and his Mom misses you both. Come back soon.
Wow Car. Unbelievalbe. I had really mixed feelings about trying to see a bull fight in Spain. But, the peak season was over, so I didn't get the chance. I was relieved but also felt I had missed out on a big part of the culture.
BUT I did watch the running of the bulls, every morning for a week on t.v. They would put a little picture of each bull/name/weight in the upper right hand corner of the screen...like an athlete. Bizarro.
I feel terrible about the bulls! Those plum smugglers are brutal!
I've never understood this tradition of bull fighting. You were very brave to go, I would have cried during the whole thing.
how barbaric! i can't believe we allow things like this to go on...i am disgusted and broken hearted. i hope the matador chokes on a chicken bone and dies!
There is no way I could have watched that...it made me dizzy and sick just reading about it. Incredible.
I got to go to a corrida during on my mission in Spain. We definitely didn't have as good of seats as you did. I thought it was a pretty cool experience, but mostly because of the atmosphere. Two of the three torreros we saw were supposedly some of best in the world and the stadium was packed. So when the band was playing and everybody was shouting it was pretty electric. Plus the torreros were amazing at what they did. But the whole killing six bulls every night, yeah that kind of sucks. Anyways, your pictures are awesome.
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