Bullfighting in Spain

This is HALF the people who went to yesterday's bullfighting event (other half is from the other batch of IE students)!

Yesterday's CAPEA Day was awesome~ over 140 people from IE Business School turned up for the event.  We were advised to meet at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (where these epic FC Real Madrid football games are held) at 11am. I went to the venue 30mins early just to ensure that I didn't get lost in the immensity of the stadium (I was leveraging from my previous experience getting lost at different gates at the Araneta Colliseum / Singapore Indoor Stadium). And, well, I needed to have breakfast too. From experience, I didn't want to end up hungry inside the bus while on transit to the bullfighting arena. And so, I grabbed a Spanish omelette from the nearest cafe/bar in sight and headed back to the meeting spot.

The early birds waiting for others to arrive. On the backdrop, the monolithic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium!

Luckily, there was only 1 obvious parking lot. And knowing IE students, they would likely (and obviously) congregate at a certain spot. The buses came on time... and well, as most events, people stayed on the street to continue networking.

These folks are all ready to see some action (especially the ones already inside the bus!!!)!

According to the itinerary, the journey to the venue was supposed to take 20mins. I was seated beside Yehia from Egypt (who previously ran for public office in his country... 22,000 people voted for him in the last election). There was a traffic jam on the road leading out of Madrid. Perhaps many other people had also planned to go on a road trip-holiday too that day. It turns out, the journey lasted for 2 hours. For me, I didn't notice the hours because I was busy listening to Yehia's stories. While most people dreaded the journey, mine was actually quite interesting.

Touch down: Music started pumping the moment we reached the area. It's gonna be a cool day!

Our bus took a turn towards this small town area and snaked through its narrow streets. It crossed a mini underpass onto a dirt road that lead to open grasslands. It seemed that we were heading towards nowhere but a small sign on the road indicated that we were indeed going the right direction~ to this farm where the bullfighting stadium was.

We entered the property secured only with minimal barbed wire (much like how farms are fenced in my mom's hometown in Zambales) and saw a couple of bulls relaxing by the shade. At the top of the hill was the venue~ an open-spaced terrace with bbq pits, an open bar and an indoor dining area. There was a DJ at the venue, and he played heart-thumping music the moment we stepped out. Quite an impressive intro~ might I say. Somehow, the wide open spaces and the cool music managed to help people forget about their long arduous bus ride.

Drinks and food in hand and music in the background, it seemed like a major outdoor BBQ party!

Inside, we were treated to free flow soft drinks, beer and sangria as well as plates upon plates of chips. People grabbed and drank as much food and drinks they could get and explored the area shortly after.

The entrance to the stadium: absolutely tiny! Guys bigger than me had trouble squeezing in!

The stadium was smaller than the one I saw from the video but it was actually bigger in real life. The ground was made of some sandy soil. Because it rained earlier that day, potholes of water covered some sections of the ring. The entrances were tiny... but I still managed to fit myself through (I would later discover how agile and flexible my body was once the bulls started charging to the sides).

Ole! Natalie swinging that red cape with much gusto!

The red cape that we had in the stadium was a bit different from the ones I saw on YouTube. It was actually extremely heavy (it was probably a couple of layers thick). Additionally, because it got wet, the water added a lot to the weight. It wasn't that red either~ but a bit on the light red side.

On the photo on the left, I asked asked Natalie to swing the cape around to capture a cool effect. It required some effort though~ as it probably weighed in at 10kg.

From a practical perspective, it could be possible that it was thick to protect the matador from the bull's horns. Well, I wasn't gonna find out.

After a few photos here and there, I stepped out of the arena to grab another drink. On my way to the indoor area, I smelled something familiar: pork liempo (grilled pork belly)!

Apparently, the Spaniards and the Filipinos shared this dish. I kid you not when I wished I had vinegar and sili peppers with me at that time. Gojuchang, garlic and lettuce would've been great too! In addition to the grilled pork belly slices, they also served chorizo, another type of pork sausage and well, blood sausages. The poor vegetarians and non-pork eaters in the group had to settle for the mountainous pile of fresh baguettes served from a humongous box.

The North Americans: Mike, Natalie and Sterling safely behind the barrier

"Bring out the bulls!" says Mallori & Sakhi. Better keep those red hot pants out of the bull's sights Sakhi!

After an energizing boost of meat, I was ready for my share of the action. I grabbed the red cape and entered the pitch to taunt the bull. I must say... it was probably a smaller bull with filed horns, but it was still pretty powerful. When it charges, you can really see it accelerate before your eyes. I also realized that flicking the cape to the side wasn't as easy as it looks on video (the cape was damn heavy).

I dropped the cape! Holy sh**~ there goes my defense! (Photo by Mazyad)

I had 2 near misses with the bull. It was pretty freaky because when it gets to around 5 feet from you, it can actually go in 2 possible directions. It was like Russian Roulette! It was an adrenalin-pumping experience~ and I was glad to be part of the action. Next time though, I personally wouldn't mind getting hit by the bull... it'd be an interesting story to tell to others. In case you were wondering how it looks like to get rammed by a bull, you can ask these guys:

Christian trips as the bull charges for the cape... we all know what happened next! (Photo by Mazyad)

This bull sent this girl flying through the air! Check out the facial expressions of the guys at the back! (Photo by Mallori)

Sakhi~ we warned you about your red-hot pants! Anyway, kudos to you brave girl! (Photo by Mazyad)

Looks bad-ass right? It was a really interesting experience and I was glad to have a first-hand shot at it. After the 3rd round of bullfights, we had the rest of the afternoon to just chill out. Drinks were still being served and grilled food was still on the menu.

Tres Matadores~ we all had the mud stains on our pants as proof!

I had a few interesting discussions during the course of the day. I had debates on whether Philippine or Taiwanese mangoes were better. I had "guy talk" topics with a few of the guys here. Another group talked about water having emotions (sounds strange, doesn't it). Personally, I also had a chat with Veronica from the November intake about what activities I planned to do with the Singapore IE Club.

My view of the view, while seated beside Ani

But of all these discussions, I actually enjoyed having a chat with Ani, my Albanian classmate. The sun had come out to balance the cold air with its warm light. She grabbed a seat and sat down on the middle of the road, overlooking the vast expanse of the farm. From the distance, you'd notice this mini-lake and this lone tree. I grabbed a chair and sat beside her to ask her what was on her mind.

Without going onto details, we basically had a chat about the view and how good it was to help provide some relaxing view. We also wondered why certain trees were situated at certain places. These philosophical conversations are good to have once in a while~ and makes you appreciate life despite all the things running around in your head.

It was time to go~ but people didn't want to leave just yet!

In that span of time I had chatting with Ani, others continued to drink while others took a photography walk along the beautiful landscapes of the vicinity. Alas, it was already 7pm and it was time to head home. People congregated at the open-spaced terrace once more to grab the remaining food items left behind. And then, the DJ played some music.

By this time, some of my classmates were already overly high / tipsy. And so were people from the November intake. The place transformed into an outdoor disco-tech~ which was lotsa fun. Mike, my classmate from Washington, who was under the weather earlier that day was filled with energy later on~ dancing his heart out to a punk-rockish beat. Damn entertaining.

I was exhausted on the trip home... and sure enough, others had also fallen asleep inside the bus. But of course, for others, they were using the rest period before heading out to another student-organized Bar of the Week (BOTW) event. I totally skipped that one~ but I did hang out with a few classmates a couple hours longer.


I'll end this post with this video I accidentally took while trying to snap the group photo above. From the audio and actions people had, you could sense the energy and fun people had during that day. I have to commend the IE Spanish Outreach Club for a pretty cool event. Possibly one of the best and most memorable student events I've attended to date here in Spain! :)