Tonight is my last night in Terceira. Since everyone from Session 1 is gone except me and Rozo, the Residencia seems really empty and lonely. Four people from Session 2 are here now, but it’s just not the same. For my last blog post, I want to write about a ‘Corrida de Toros’- a professional bullfight that we saw two days ago.
I’ve seen bullfights on television before because my Spanish teacher in middle school was very enthusiastic about them and showed us video after video of bulls getting stabbed and eventually killed in fights in Spain. I always felt a little uncomfortable when they killed the bulls because I don’t like seeing animals that have no say in their participation getting hurt in the ring. In Portugal, unlike Spain, they don’t kill the bulls in the arena, so I felt a little better going to this one. There were three professional bullfighters and six bulls. Each bull goes through two phases- a ‘cavaleiro’ in which the fighter stabs the bull on horseback, followed by a ‘pega’ which literally means holding. In the pega, eight or so incredibly brave men nicknamed ‘the suicide team’ enter the ring. You'll see how they earned this name in a second. During this section of the fight, the front man yells at the bull as he takes steps toward it, provoking it into charging at him. He then grabs onto the bull’s head, holding on until the backup men help him to bring the huge animal to a stop.
I think the particular fight that we saw was a once-in-a-lifetime event. One of the bulls was ramming its head against the wall after the fighter left the ring and broke off its horn! It kept on hitting the wall after, probably to put pressure on its wound. The whole crowd was shocked as the herders tried to get the stubborn, hurt bull back into its cage. They first tried to wave him in with the matador as usual. When that didn't work, they tried letting female cows in to herd the bull, then finally got him to move by putting a rope around his neck and pulling. During the last cavaleiro, the horseman suddenly slid off his horse mid-fight and I thought he was going to do a trick on foot! But then I saw the horse collapse behind him. This giant, majestic creature kicked its legs in the air for a few seconds as he had a heart attack, and then lay still. People started jumping into the arena, with the bull still in there, in order to try to revive the horse! A man began jumping on the horses’ chest to perform CPR, which was an odd sight to see, but he couldn’t save it. I admit, I kind of teared up during this whole ordeal. It was incredibly sad to see a heart just give up right in front of my eyes. Now that I’ve seen one bullfight, I don’t think I need to see another for the rest of my life, despite the fact that it was a cool experience overall.
I can’t believe my six weeks have flown by so quickly. I’ve learned so much about myself, the culture of the Azores, and procedures in the hospital. Vanessa, get excited, because I’m about to bring out the cheese. Singer, Laura Hamrick, Laura Rozo, Fei Fei, Chris, Ranjan, Vanessa, Erin, Nicole- you each have a special place in my heart. Thank you for making this such an amazing experience. I’ve made friendships that are not likely to fade anytime soon. I’ve been to caves, hot springs, mountains, beaches, and countless other beautiful natural wonders. Catch you later Azores, it’s been great :)
Signing off,
Aisha Venugopal
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