This weekend was definitely needed to get myself prepared for my midterms and the next week and a half of traveling! Friday night we went up to the same place to watch the sunset, eat some snacks, and play some guitar by the Alhambra. The view was vibrant with pink, orange, and violet colors stretching of the city from the sun. Saturday I had coffee with my friend Riley up at Hotel Alhambra up on the same hill and looked out over the city and the Sierra Nevada mountains.
The main activity for this weekend though was the Bull Fight. I was told by many people that I should go to experience a bull fight and one of Spain's longest traditions, and I see the merit in my going, but I did not enjoy watching the fight. I have nothing against the people who like to watch it, but seeing three bulls (I only stayed for three, there were three more fights apparently) be constantly confused by an array of matadors, capes, and horses, brutally stabbed by spears, daggers, and swords only to be dragged off by horses across the ring dead is not right. It was not just a killing of a bull (which by no means is morally right to kill for entertainment), but it was the brutal confusion and torture of the animal that was upsetting. I knew that I should witness it firsthand, but I have no desire to take part in something as brutal as that. I am no the only one either, there were protests before the bull fight about how it is a display of torture and animal abuse, and bullfighting is already outlawed in Barcelona. Hopefully in the next coming years people's opinions will change and be in favor of not displaying the torture of an animal for entertainment.
Anyway, I just wanted to share a portion of my thoughts on the subject, but I don't want turn this blog into a medium for me to rant about topics.
In other, less brutal, news, I just had my first exam today for my music class! It went pretty well, and I have three tomorrow, and one Wednesday. After that, I am off to Morocco Thursday morning at 4:30 AM...! Thursday is a travel day to get by the border, and then stop for the night in Fez. We will do a tour around Fez the next day and have a folklore show that night! Saturday we head to Erfoud and once there, we take jeep 4x4 to Merzouga in the desert and then spend the night in tents there. The next day we head for a camel walk to a small town in the desert and spend another night at the camp. After the desert, we start making our way back and stop in Meknes to spend our last night! It will definitely be a tiring trip, but hopefully worth every moment!
I then have a day of rest Wednesday of Holy Week, and then Thursday morning I head to Madrid and then to Ourense, a small town about 107 km from Santiago de Compostela, to do the "camino" or one of the pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. I will be walking around 100 km in four days up until Easter Sunday with my friend Jack and Wyatt. We know that it will be tiring, but we all want to experience it and what time better to do a religious pilgrimage than Holy Week! So for the next couple weeks I will be a bit offline, as I will be doing a lot of traveling. I am of course going to take so many pictures and document my time in my journal, but I won't be able to post until I get back after Easter Sunday.
For now though, here are some pictures from this weekend! I hope you enjoy and will post as soon as I can!
A few pictures of the beautiful sunset:
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| Outside of la Plaza de Toros |
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| A protest outside |
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| Inside the ring |
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| Start of the fight |
Hope you all enjoyed, more to come!
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