This is kind of graphic so... you've been warned
So we met at 5:15 on Sunday to go to the bull fight. We get there and find our seats. We were way up high but I don't think I would have wanted to be much closer. This is the arena before it started.
It starts by all the bull fighters come out and walk around with their helpers. Normally there are 3 fighters and 6 bulls but this one was for charity, all the proceeds would go to helping children with Down Syndrome. So there was 6 fighters and 6 bulls. The guy on the horse and the row of 5 guys behind him are the bull fighters. They 3 guys behind each fighter are their helpers, that one day want to be a real, regular bull fighter.
So it started off with the guy on the horse. It was different. I'm not sure that I hate but I know I don't like it. It almost didn't seem real.
Then it was time for the second one and it came out but it was back to a regular bull fight. There are 2 horses that come out and there are guys with long spears and they wait for the bull to ram them and then they stab the bull in the neck.
There are the 3 guys that come out and they each have 2 spears. The stab them into the neck. Its kind of fuzzy but that is what they do. They try to get it right in the neck where all the big veins are.
Then they make the bull run around so it will bleed and make it weaker.
As you can see there is quite a bit of blood on his neck.
Then they go and get a long sword. It is with this that they actually kill the bull. You can see the sword in his hand and he is waiting for the right time. Then there is a spot in the neck that they aim for that, I think, severs a main artery and then he dies. Because after the bull is stabbed with the sword the helpers come in and they wave the pink and yellow capes in his face and it makes him keep turning his head and I think they do this to keep the blood moving and so he will bleed out faster because if he doesn't die with in a certain amount of time he has to get another sword and try again. Obviously its better to get it done the first time. There was only one fighter that had to try again. It was the last one and he was only 20 years old.
Spaniard are very superstitious. The bull fighters toss their hat before each fight and if it lands right side up the will be lucky but if its upside down, it means bad luck. The guy that had to try again, his hat landed upside down, twice. They don't normally throw it twice but I think he did it again to try and give him good luck. But it didn't work. But at least he didn't get stabbed by the bull. There was one guy that side swiped and almost impaled him. So that was a little terrifying. But other than that there wasn't too many close calls.
Once you can see the bull is dead everyone waves a white cloth at him as a symbol that they liked the show. Then they cut the spinal cord and then people with horses come out and hook the bull up and they drag it out. Before it leaves there are "judges" that come out and decide how well the bull fighter did. If he did ok he gets one ear. If it was good he gets two ears, and if he was awesome he gets both ears and the tail. There were only 2 people that got the tail. I think the last guy got only one ear but I'm not sure. After they receive the prize they walk around and people throw flowers or women will through their shawls (the people that are wearing the flamenco dresses usually have the shawls so they throw that) and they throw their hats at them. There are some of his helps that go around and help him pick up the flowers and through that hats and shawls back to the people. Then people try to get the bull fighters attention because he will throw the ear/tail into the crowd. We sat too high up to get one. Each bull fighter had to go through this process. We were there for about 3 hours. I'm not sure I would like to go again. It is one of those things that is something that you only need to see once. And I did so I'm good.
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