Blog 11: Capea (Amateur
Bullfight)
I am
looking down at the stomach-churning drop from the top of the sheer faced cliff
of the pueblo (town) Arcos de la Frontera. The small, white village is perched
on top looking like it popped right out of the pages of a storybook. Ahead of
me, flock of black birds battle against the wind and we are so far up that I
can only see their backs. I watch as they press on, making their way across the
rolling hills of Spanish wine country. Hopefully I have given you a little
taste of the picturesque atmosphere of Arcos de la Frontera. While the rest of
my classmates were traveling abroad or to far away Spanish cities, my roommate
and I took a relaxing day trip to one of the “white villages” of Spain. To be
honest, there are not many sights to see in Arcos de la Frontera but the
atmosphere and view from the top and bottom of the cliff are spectacular! We
also were very fortunate to meet a local guy named Alejandro (I swear there are
so many Alejandro’s here) who was nice enough to show us around and drive us to
a look out that we couldn’t otherwise have gotten to without a car. We ended
the day off relaxing with a glass of “tinto” (they don’t call red wine “vino
rojo) before returning to Sevilla.
Capea was
pretty much the opposite of the relaxing day at Arcos de la Frontera. My
roommate’s intercambio invited her to go to this event where people talk story,
eat good food, drink, and dance. We invited one of our friends to come along
too. It took place in this rustic farm on the outskirts of Sevilla. This might
sound weird but it was nice to be out of the city and with the air smelling of
fresh grass and animals. We also had awesome gamaba (shrimp) paella as well.
This was the first time I saw it being cooked in a huge, steaming pan. An elderly
man was cooking it and this was apparently his 1000th something time cooking
paella like this. Bluff or not, the smell of paella being cooked like that is
mouth salivating.
But the
main event is when people can have a go at being a “matador.” For those of you
that don’t know, in Spain a strong cultural tradition is corrida de toros
(bullfighting). Apparently it’s banned in certain parts of Spain and Andalucia
is one of the few places left in Spain where bull fighting is still practiced. Personally
I don’t know if I could enjoy watching a traditional bull fight because the
bull almost always dies in the end. But I also understand that it is an engrained
part of Spanish culture. In Capea, the bull is only a calf (because the people
at the event are not professional matadors) and the bull is not killed. Well, I
was all ready to be valiente (brave) and get into that ruedo (bullring) and
give it a try, but maybe from the pictures you will see why I chickened out.
Firstly, the bull was not that small. I can’t imagine how scary it must be
looking straight into the face of a full-grown bull. Secondly, I watched as
even some of the men there didn’t even go into the ring and everybody (all
thirty or-so Spainards) watched intensely and made lots of noise as someone
made an attempt. And then some brave soul would go in and stamp around or sweep
the bright pink and yellow cape across the floor before getting run over and
head butted by the bull. I can’t really blame the bull though. If I had a bunch
of people running around, yelling at me I’d be pissed off too! But it was very
exciting to watch. I really really regret
not being brave and just trying. If there’s one thing I’ve learned being here
it’s to take every unique opportunity that comes your way because you might
never get the chance to experience it again.
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