Great Last Day in Spain... Bittersweet.

     My five weeks in Spain is officially up as of tomorrow morning. I cannot believe it. It feels like my life is moving in fast forward. I had such a great last day in Spain and it was a great way to wrap up the last five weeks in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
    This last week was rather busy as the semester in Spain was coming to an end. In Spanish I had two tests...I am proud and surprised to report I got a 95 on one and a 100 on the other. My hard work and hours of studying finally paid off. I also had the best tutor in the world...Adrian! I learned so much more in Spanish than I ever thought I would. I remember the first week I was in tears every single day because our professor only spoke in Spanish. As the weeks went on and I started to understand more and more...and our professor began speaking more and more English... I really started to enjoy learning the language. I proved to myself I can succeed in a language and it gave me hope one day I may be able to learn Spanish fluently. Ethics also ended up being a great class. We had a lot of intense discussions including the Death Penalty, Abortion, Gay Marriage and Feminism. Our class room was an open forum and everyone's opinions were heard. I really enjoyed the discussions and though none of my opinions on anything changed, I learned a lot about other peoples opinions.
   My community service also came to an end this week. I really enjoyed that as well. I mentioned in earlier posts I was working in a High School in a poorer part of Sevilla. I was in a English class with students around seventeen and eighteen years old. I really enjoyed getting to know the students, practicing my Spanish and helping them learn English. The last day I went our regular class was not in session. I was a little bummed, but we were able to go talk to the faculty and staff for an hour. The teachers were so nice and welcoming. Most of them spoke broken English and really wanted to practice with us, which they did. The principal of the school Christina was the sweetest woman. When we first started doing service there 5 weeks ago the only thing she could say in English was "Hello. How are you?" and "Goodbye. Thank you." As the weeks went on I noticed she was picking up more and more English. By the last week we were there she could hold a conversation. She was almost fluent with only some grammar issues. I could not believe it. Through spending time with her on our last visit I learned she is teaching herself English. Once a week she attends a English class at another High School along with another male teacher who is also learning English. The dedication Christina and the other teacher who were practicing English was amazing. They really inspired me to continue my Spanish studies. I had such a great time being immersed into the Spanish culture within the High School while in Spain. It was a much different experience than the one I had in Italy and I loved both so much. As we were leaving Christina gave each of us (Dana, Sean, Ashley and myself) a really nice ballpoint pen. It had the High Schools name and address on it. It was so sweet.
      Yesterday Adrian, Anthony and Chris got haircuts at a local barber shop. I decided to go to see what it was like getting a haircut in Spain. It was just like the United States! hahah. There haircuts came out really nice except for the fact Anthony was cut really bad on the back of his neck. Overall, I found it really cool to just be in the environment.

       Last night I packed my suitcase and organized a lot of my stuff. Adrian and I considered going into the city center, but were exhausted and got into some great conversation with Dana and Sean. Sometimes nights like that with deep conversation are just the best.      
      Today, our official last day in Sevilla was bittersweet. St. John's...ONCE AGAIN....planned a great day trip. Maybe, even my favorite. They took us to a Bull Fighting Ranch... not where the actual Bull Fights take place, but where the bulls and cows are trained and raised. I do not condone bull fighting, even knowing the historical reasons for it I still do not think it is humane. With that said, to see the culture in this way was interesting.
     The ranch was about an hour away and a lot of the drive was on a dirt road. The ride was very scenic though with a lot of rolling hills, pastures, cows and even bulls. When we pulled up the ranch I knew it was going to be a good day. Animals everywhere including dogs and horses, flowers and even more pastures. We started off by going into the restaurant part of the ranch to have a snack and drink. The outside of the restaurant was just beautiful. They gave us homemade chips and pork.

             After our quick break we started our tour of the ranch. We were shuffled into a cart pulled by a tractor. It reminded me so much of the haunted hayrides I would go on in High School. It was on all of the dirt roads and even up and down the big hills. 

I mentioned earlier how there were dogs everywhere on the ranch and there was. I am still not sure if they were stray or owned by the ranch. At some points they ran right into the same pasture the bulls were in. They followed our tractor the entire way, running behind the entire time.

       Our tour started by viewing of the bulls that were three years old. At three bulls are basically considered to be teenagers or like middle school as our guide explained. They sometimes fight at this age, but it is as if they are in a second division, not the big time fights. Also, I almost forgot to mention! Our "tour guide"! Basically he was like a man you would see in the movies. He rode next to the tractor on horseback and was also a bull fighter. He had been fighting bull since age TEN! He explained in Spanish, as our adviser Raul translated, he had been near death because of a bull many times. At times he was so badly hurt he prepared himself to die. Bull fighters must be around or exactly 150 pounds. Our guide really just seemed like a movie star! His bull fighting name was "El Rubio" meaning "The Blonde One" in Spanish. He is now 35 years old.

     On the other hand, the bull is sometimes as large as one thousand-five hundred pounds, but on average one thousand-three hundred pounds. The force of a bulls horns comes at a human flesh as if it were three-thousand pounds! Bulls, if you did not already know, are extremely dangerous. The horns can easily go through the flesh of a man. Back when bull fighting first began, if bull fighters were not killed in the ring, they were killed outside the ring by infection. The bull horns carry a lot of bacteria so before penicillin was around simple infections that could usually be treated would kill the bull fighters.
   Bulls only see in black and white. The reason the bull fighters use a red cape to get the bull to charge is just purely tradition. I learned today the name of the cape in Spanish is Muleta. The bull fighter must keep completely still before they are about to fight the bull and they just move around the cape in order to get it to charge.
    A bulls diet consist of hay, wheat and cereals. The bulls must pass a test in order to train for the actual ring. Only the best of the best are picked. There are about six-hundred bulls on about two-hundred acres worth of the ranch. The other 1, 200 acres left over on the ranch belong to a few cows and just scenery.
     After viewing the three year old bulls we were brought to see the four year olds. The four year old bulls are considered adults. They are on a higher level of bull fighting, but still not the highest or largest in size.  
    The last bulls we saw were the ones we were able to get the closest too. They were the five years olds that will fight this summer. It is not the season for bull fighting so even if I wanted to see a bull fight in Spain it would not be possible. It is sort of like Horse-racing in Saratoga, it has a season.
      These bulls were the largest and most trained. Our tour guide actually went right into the pen with these bulls and directed them to sprint past us several times so we could get pictures. It was wild. Some pictures I got myself and others Adrian took.

           I have never actually seen a bull in real life. I felt like I could not leave Spain not seeing a bull just because their culture is so involved in the art of Bull Fighting. The ranch was so interesting and I learned so much about Bull Fighting and the raising of bulls. I still am not sure how I feel about it. It just seems so unethical to raise an animal to fight.  It is seen unethical to raise dogs to fight, yet it is still okay to allow bulls to do the same. Also, it is not myth that the bulls are killed after they fight. Most of the time the bulls are still killed right out in the bull ring in front of the crowd. Even if the bull "wins" the bull fight by killing the human, they are still killed. It is just a really strange. It is an industry and apart of the culture..but still just seems cruel.

     After we saw the bulls we were brought to another part of the ranch to see the cows. There were one hundred-eighty cows on the ranch and they were in groups of forty. Like the bulls, they also had to pass an exam to be there. If they did not, they were sent to the slaughter house. We got to see a baby cow that was born just last night. The baby was pointed out to us after his mother went after a dog who was trying to go after the baby. It was fascinating to see that motherly instinct in an animal.

     Cows on average have one baby a year. Like humans, they take nine months. After two years of age a cow is able to start having babies. Cows can live up to about twenty-four years old.  As we were pulling away we actually watched a dog chase a cow all around the pen. The cow was literally sprinting away from this tiny dog and "moo-ing".

     After our tour concluded we had lunch at the restaurant sort of place on the ranch. They made us homemade Paella. I really haven't been a Paella fan since I got to Spain because of the meat that is usually in it. Today though, by far one of the best dishes I have had in Spain yet. There was no meat in it at all and I could have had five more plates. Delicious. For those that do not know Paella is a rice dish. YUM!

     After lunch Adrian, Dana, Sean and I walked down the dirt road to just see anything we could see before we left. It was a nice little walk and we got to see some more cows and dogs. 

     A few minutes later we were called by our adviser to go inside one of the bull rings on the ranch. It was a small bull ring and I don't think it is even used for bull fighting anymore. We thought we were leaving from here, but much to our surprise there was more! Bird trainers with various kinds of birds came to talk to us about the birds and we even got to hold some!!! The first bird we were shown was the Falcon. The fastest animal in the WORLD. Some St. John's students were able to hold it before they switched to the next bird. The Falcon wore a cover on its head so it could not see anything. If it did see anything it would basically freak out. 

   After the Falcon the bird trainers brought out a Hawk from the States. The Hawk was really big AND I got to hold him! He flew from the trainers arm to my arm. I was a little nervous, but I did it!

    Next came out the owl. I absolutely loved this owl. Watching the owl turn its head all of the way around was crazy. Also, its eyes. They were mesmerizing.

The next bird that came out was definitely my favorite. The bird trainers claimed they were about to bring out the biggest bird yet. They tricked a girl into holding it, pretending it was huge, but it was a teacup owl!!!!I did not pass up the offer to hold him for a second!!!!

      Such a great day and so much fun. It was a great "good-bye" to Sevilla. After our trip back Adrian and I grabbed a coffee at Starbucks in the city center. It was so weird to think it would be the last time we would be in the city center of Sevilla.  I really fell in love with Spain. It is going to be so difficult to leave.

       I look back on the last five weeks here and once again I just cannot believe it. It started off with bungee jumping, Madrid, Morocco, Horseback riding on the beach, exploring the city center, exploring Sevilla,  Portugal, Cadiz, beaches galore, learning Spanish, sunbathing, boating, climbing and lots of laughing. It has been a hectic five weeks, but I have loved it all. I learned a lot about myself here too and other people as well. Some positive, some negative, but all in all life goes on. As much as I love Spain, I am ready for Paris. I am so excited to see Eduardo and explore a whole new city. I am also beyond excited for Spring Break. 

      To think I only have six weeks left in Europe is scary. I cannot wait to see my family, but I also don't ever want this trip to be over. Also, as many know Adrian is from California and I don't get to see him during summers. Last summer was very difficult being apart and I am just dreading that so much. We are trying not to let it get in the way of the time we have here, but as time keeps slipping away...so does our time together. Being apart for four months is really not easy.

    I am so thankful for my time in Spain. I love this country so much and all it has to offer. Leaving Spain is bittersweet...but I am so thankful I have my memories (and Blog!) to take with me forever. Thanks for reading and sticking with me through the last ten weeks :) and the next post I write will be from Paris, France! But for now...Adios! :)

XOXO

Shann