WARNING: This blog might be found offensive or disturbing. Read at your own risk.

So, my friend invited to me a typical Colombian event and, in keeping with my upbeat, willing to do just about anything personality I said "Sure!" And that is how I ended up going to a bullfight.

Yeah, I know. Scary. Gross. Inhumane. This was sort of a tough decision, but I also really wanted to go because I wanted to take in what is very much a tradition and has been since the Inquisition. But, like my girls before a big game, there needed to be some serious pre-funking!

Marcia whipped up the traditional pre-bullfight meal of muy delicioso paella served with a refreshing liquid courage, Sangria. Suzanne brought a decadent dessert of lime cheesecake. Double yum! Did I mention we had Sangria? Mmmmmmmm!

And as if to keep us focused on the small blessings in life, we enjoyed a mommy bird and her little babies who were nesting just outside Marcia's window




Life is beautiful.


And then it was off to the bullfight. The outside of the arena is just beautiful, all made of brick as are so many buildings here. And on the streets outside there were plenty of vendors. Par for the course.








Once inside, we were in for a surprise. Turns out, you don't get just one bullfight. Oh, no. You get 6! I know ~ more than one could ever hope for.......! Luckily, there were some very nice ladies who offered us a bit of rum before entering!



And the first one was tough. It's sort of like going to watch "Titanic". You know how it's going to end, and it's hard to stop thinking about it. But once you put the end out of your mind ~ hard to do, but possible ~ then you can appreciate the enthusiasm of the crowd and the elegance of the matador and really enjoy yourself. First they marched all the players out so that we could appreciate the majesty of the event.



And as though 'they' knew the Gringos weren't ready for the main event yet, we were first treated to the elegant horsemanship of a very talented and young (18 years old) Portugese man who worked his horses magnificently!




The horses were able to trot in such a way that they looked as though they were practically floating above the arena, and then trot sideways as though they were doing a dance. It was beautiful!

But eventually it was time for..........



............ the bull.

Here's how it works. First the (very brave!) bandilleros come out with their hot pink capes and work the bull. One bandillero in particular was very good and put on quite the show.




They do have the protection of the wall to run to though, since they are not the matadors, and they use it when the bull gets just a wee bit too close! Some bandilleros are smart ~



I would be scared of the bull too!!!!

Next comes the picadore; a man on a robed horse whose job it is lance the bull once.




This was the scariest part for me, because the bull has to be very close for the picadore to lance it, and that means that the bull can at the very least get it's horns caught in the 'robe' worn by the horse, and at the very worst (as was the case in Manizales one year) the bull can lift the horse up by it's belly and toss it!

Then it's back to the bandilleros, only this time, instead of just using their capes, one of them, sans cape, stands facing a charging bull and thrusts two smaller lances into the bull's neck/back and then runs for the hills! I think that these are the bravest men because they have to stand still while a bull races straight at them! Of course, they do have pointy sticks.....




This bandillero was named El Gordo by the crowd. He was a favorite since he is from Bogota.

But they are not the finale, of course. Finally, out comes the matador dressed in his tightly fitting, sequins covered costume and wielding a smaller red cape and sword.




He very slowly engages the bull's attention, seducing it with his words and hand motions until it charges the small cape. The matador stays in the same spot, simply pirouetting as the bull charges time and again. The better the matador, the closer he keeps the bull. And by closer I mean, he can reach out and touch it as it passes under his cloak! Of course by now the bull is weakened from blood loss but also very very mad, so when this man assumes his matador stance, no one is surprised what part of his body he extends outward ~ yeah, he has balls! I think the best of the night was the Spaniard. He was beautifully elegant and arrogant in his stance. But he was amazingly brave in the face of an angry, wounded bull.







Of course, he is also the one to finally kill the bull. He uses a sword and, brandishing it very theatrically and striking a dashing pose, he stabs the bull in the back of the neck.




A good matador can bring a bull down very quickly.



For his efforts, he can earn one of the bulls ears, or if he is really good, then two. And if he is amazing, then he can earn both ears and a tail. The Spaniard was so good, that at the end of his fight, the judges awarded him the enviable prize of two bull's ears!

(Yeah, I know. Disgusting.....)

There were a couple of bright spots in our evening,though, believe it or not. First is that the young Portugese was one of our matadors (there is a special word that I have now forgotten for a matador on horseback). He came out and once again wowed us with his skills as a horseman, striking the bull and then "running" his horse from the bull .... sideways! It was scary to watch the bull come so close to the horse's hind quarters.


I've never seen a horse run so fast sideways!!!!

Secondly, and most importantly, during the second bullfight with the local matador, the crowd, after an amazing show by both the bull and matador, were calling out "in dulto". I didn't know what that meant, so I rushed down to the man we had met earlier (three sons graduated from CNG ~ now a lawyer, a doctor, and a business man!). He told me that the crowd was calling to the judges to pardon the bull. And just then, I turned around to see the judges lower a yellow flag ~ the bull was to be spared! The man was very excited. He said this is the best bull fight that he had seen, and he is a regular. A bull being pardoned is a rare event, he told me. It only happens like every ten years or so!!! It was such a joy/relief to know that one bull was going to live (even though I knew that the meat was to go to the poor of Bogota). Yay!!! Guess I am just not cut out to be a bullfight groupie!!!! And so Marcia, Suzanne, and I were able to leave the arena with smiles on our faces.