Corrida de toros (bullfight)

Yes. I went to a bullfight. To begin I’ll tell you how I feel now: I'm glad I went, and I'm glad I'll never have to do it again.Going into it I really didn't have real idea of how bullfights worked, only that there is huge controversy over it. On one side there are the die hard bullfight fans who go for their whole life and who believe that bullfighting is one of the most important traditions in Hispanic culture. On the other side are the animal rights people who believe that it’s terrible to wound and kill hundreds of bulls every year for sport. I can see both sides of the argument now and even though I wouldn't want to go to another fight I respect the people whose tradition it is and the closest comparison I could make would be to game hunting back in the states and to those people who go out and kill animals to just mount on their walls. However by no means do I want to underplay to brutality and suffering of the bulls and how tragic seeing a huge animal being stabbed to death really is. Okay, so for all of you who have never seen a bullfight here is what exactly happens. There is a round stadium and in the center is a dirt ring in which the bullfight takes place. The stadium is pack with obviously wealthy people partying, drinking and having a great time (obviously the people who cherish this as a part of their tradition like the Kentucky Derby). To start the fight a bull (toro) is let out into the ring and numerous bullfighters (toreros) taunt it with pink/red cape. Next two men mounted on horses come out and one stabs the toro on the back numerous times and makes it bleed. The horses then leave the ring and 3 men one after the other stab 2 sticks each into the toros back that are implanted there for the rest of the fight (sometimes they fall out though). After this the main torero comes out and does many "dances" with the toro, taunting it with a red cape and the crowd yells "OLE" each time the bull charges. If the bull wasn't being stabbed and killed this part would actually be very pretty because it literally is like the two are dancing around each other often times with the torero touching and rubbing the bulls horns, within only feet of each other. It is just miraculous how the bull doesn't annihilate the torero and really never charges except at the cape when being taunted. After about a half hour of this the torero gets a sword and stabs the toro in the spinal cord to kill it, the bull walks around and eventually collapses to its death where upon another dagger is more precisely placed in its spinal cord to make sure its completely dead and the toro twitches on the ground at that point. Horses are then brought into the ring and the bull is tied and dragged out by the horses. There were six fights with 3 toreros killing 2 bulls each. One bull came onto the field and had a problem with its legs or hoofs and the crowd booed and yelled until they let him off and new one was brought on. If a torero does especially good fans will wave white flags and if enough flags are waved a judge will give the torero an away and he will walk around the ring thanking everyone and people throw roses and these leather flasks of wine down to him. I sat next to a group of people who had been coming for over 40 years to the bullfights and they were able to teach me more about it which I think really helped me understand why people go as part of a tradition. Honestly by the 6th bull I was pretty desensitized by the whole experience so even though I still think it’s pretty awful I can see how people who have grown up in the culture view it as just another sport.

For more info and a better cultural and technical explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_fights The fight I saw is Spanish bullfighting opposed to some other kinds of different places.

Dia de los muertos

Dia de los muertos (day of the dead) is celebrated on November 2nd and although a primarily Mexican tradition it is celebrated in Hispanic communities all over the world. For more background info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_DeadIn lima the holiday is celebrated most by the lower class so we joined thousands of people at the cemetery where all the poor are buried. We were dropped off in a combi and had to walk a few blocks up to the cemetery; along the way the streets were filled with vendors selling candles, crosses, flowers, food, alcohol and more. Upon entering the gates there is a huge mausoleum that has recently been built and families were climbing ladders to clean, paint, and decorate the front cement square of their loved ones. Once passing the mausoleum I saw hillsides as far as I could see covered in graves. This is not a cemetery similar to any I have seen in my life and is almost impossible for me to explain but I’ll try my best. Traditionally Andean culture prefers to be buried under ground and going back into Incan tradition doesn't like to be cremated. The Incan's believed that you needed your body in tact after death to have your soul be able to continue living. The last Incan "king", Atahualpa, converted to Catholicism immediately before being killed by conquistadores so that he would be beheaded instead of burned. Initially the bodies are buried and the coffins are covered with rocks and a cross is places on the head of the grave with the Name, date of birth and date of death painted on the cross. The day of the dead is a day where families come to clean the graves, repaint the crosses, decorate and bring gifts for the dead. As families move up in social standing more elaborate altars and even building are built on top of the grave sites. The graves are painted pastel colors and looking into the distance the cemetery looks like a city for the dead. The day is not a day of so much mourning but rather a day of celebration. Families stay at the graves often times all day and play music, sing songs, dance and drink. The Peruvians welcomed us to party with then and we shared a lot of beer and stories with them, they really appreciated that we would come celebrate the day and their deceased loved ones with them. It was amazing that basically every single grave had been cared for and only a small percentage out of thousands of graves were not visited on this day. I bought a pack of candles and found what I believe was the grave of a baby (due to the size) that had not been visited and I rebuilt the rock structure on top of it, cleaned away the weeds and burned a candle there. What I found written on one grave that really touched me was " I am not dead I am only sleeping and I will not die until the day you stop visiting me" (in Spanish of course). The cemetery was so spectacular and unbelievable because it just continued up and down the hillsides for what seemed like forever. The cemetery is by far the biggest in lima and is thought to be one of the biggest in the world. Like so many things here in Peru this is just so hard to define in words and I feel like what I have written doesn't even begin to explain this experience.