We went out of town for the weekend, away from the internet, and so I am late to say for the fourth year now - Happy Mother's Day Ice Mom! Hope it was great.
As for me, we celebrated the big day watching a professional bike race (in sweltering heat - I don't know how the riders could do it) and a bullfight. Yes, a bullfight. Because when you think of mothers, you naturally think of stabbing bulls, right?
We literally stumbled in to the stadium just wanting to take "a quick look" and move on. But we got sucked into the pomp and circumstance. The crowd really yells "Ole" and there was a band there too! And it was free. Why was it free? Well, for one thing, we were at the old stadium, built in 1800-something, and that is where the juniors compete. Kids that looked no more than 13 years old. And even if they are older, the bull still thinks they look 13.
To show you how small they are, this picture includes the "old master" and the other trainers that work with the "kid". He's much smaller than they are and most of the time the kid was on his own with the bull.
That's when the "mom" instinct in me asked, "Would I let my teenager in the ring with a bull?" I have always thought figure skaters (especially pair skaters) are brave athletes and still do.
But this takes bravery up a notch ... almost to stupidity, if you ask me. But hey, I bet this kid doesn't get bullied at school.
One final note - I'm not sure how they teach it at bullfighting school, but you show skaters know the rule about never turning your back to the audience?
I would think it would be much the same to never turn your back to the bull. But they did it all the time.
3 comments:
Happy Mother's Day!
The bullfighting thing is crazy. I never thought about how they train bullfighters. In my mind, they just were born in their 20s, swaddled in a cape, given a funny hat, and thrown into the arena.
Glad you had a good weekend!
i would love to experience one once (a bullfight), just to see that bit of culture in action, as it is so similar, yet so different from ours. then again, it may just be the matadors in their tight pants that pique my curiosity so.
we are numb to our own culture's violence, but when it's so unique (as is bullfighting) it seems so clearly and unnecessarily violent (because we're looking in from the outside).
Thanks Ice Mom - when you mention "hats" I forgot to write about the end of the fight. The matador walks the entire circle of the ring with his hands raised, a la Rocky, and people throw their hats to him. He and the assistants throw the hats back, but I bet it doesn't land back near your head.
These "kids" didn't get to wear the Mickey Mouse - like ears.
To JCM - great point on the violence that I didn't even think about. What was strange was when the first match was over, they were trying to steer the bull out of the ring, back to the dressing room. But the bull wouldn't go. After five minutes of the matadors trying to coach the bull inside, one of the guys took out a six-inch knife and struck the bull in the throat. The bull went down instantly. No struggling, no movement whatsoever. After watching 20 minutes or so of the pageantry of the slow kill it was a total shock to see it fall in an instant.
But I tell you those matadors have some exaggerated dance moves! I'll have to watch some matador ice dance numbers more carefully from now on.
Post a Comment