La Corrida del Toros

Every year in Quito there is a celebration the last last week of November/ first week of December marking the founding of the city of Quito by Sebastian Benalcazar in 1534. One of the ways Quiteños celebrate is to hold annual bullfights known as the Feria de Quito or the Feria de Jesus del Gran Poder. Some of you may remember Ken's visit last year to the bullfights in San Jose, Costa Rica (see January 7th, 2009). This type of bullfight is very different from that. It is much more like the bullfighting in Spain.

For those of you who are against bullfighting and think of it as animal cruelty I will not argue with you as I have seen firsthand the blood and gore not only of the bull, but also of horses used in the ring. I do want to inform those of you who have never had this cultural experience of what a bullfight is like here in Ecuador. That being said I want to tell everyone that in my life I have run one marathon. It was an experience that I have had. I did not really enjoy it, but I learned much from it and now I can cross that off my list of things that I have done in my life. For me the bullfight was like that. I have now seen one and although I did not particularly enjoy it, I did learn something about the people and

the culture and want to pass on my photos and explanations to those that are interested.

In the first part of the bullfight the matador uses a pink and yellow cape called a "capote". This is done by the matador with as little movement of his feet as possible. We personally witnessed one matador not move his feet at all for literally 10 different charges by the bull. Pretty impressive. Each time the bull charges the crowd obligingly shouts "Olé!" There are also a few other assistants in the ring at the beginning. They are like the rodeo clowns of bullfighting, there to protect the matador.

Soon after this the trumpet sounds and the next group of people enter the ring including two "picadores" (mounted horsemen). They are to stay outside of the 2 white lines of the ring. The purpose of the picador I am told is to cut some neck muscles of the bull to keep him from being able to lift his head fully. This is supposed to protect the bullfighter, but I can tell you the crowd does not care much for the picador. There were many whistles (polite boos) and some jeering especially when the horseman allowed his horse to be knocked over. I think this is what I found to be the most cruel, leading in blindfolded, armor padded horse knowing that the bull would invariably charge the horse and rider when the picador took aim.

The next part involves these decorated barbed spears called banderillas. The object of the banderillero is to place the banderillas two at a time in the back upper neck of the bull. It is a pretty dangerous act by the matador and most matadors have an entourage of matadors in training that help them with this part of the fight. El Fandi was the only matador we saw that chose to do this himself and we quickly discovered why. He was no doubt the most precise. The other banderilleros seemed to have difficulty placing two at a time with usually one not being placed. Apparently the banderillero has to come at the bull head on in order to accomplish this task. After placing them he then has to run with all his might to the side wall for safety, dodging back and forth to confuse the bull.

After 3 sets of these banderillas are placed the matador then returns for the third part of the fight, the faena. The matador now uses his red cape, a "muleta". The bullfighter has 13 minutes in which to kill the bull in this stage. If he does not accomplish his task the bull goes free. Also, the crowd can call out "que vive el toro" and wave white kerchiefs if they want the bull to be pardoned. This is pretty rare though, sadly enough. I can say that of all parts of the bullfight, this appears to be the most about the matador than anything else. He continually uses the red cape to entice to bull to charge him. Most important for the bullfighter is to make a quick and clean kill between the shoulder blades. If this is not done properly the bull suffers, the people jeer, and the matador has to try it again with another sword. Of the 5 bulls we witnessed (I just couldn't stay for the 6th) only 2 of them seemed to be killed fairly quickly without assistance. They do have a man there that makes sure the bull is dead by inserting an icepick in the brain at the end. Wouldn't you just love that job description on a resume?....hmmmm, qualifications....raising cattle, breeding bulls, and the bull terminator.

The only redeeming thing I can truly say about this entire event is that I have learned all the bull meat is donated to area orphanages and shelters. The bullfighter can win an award at the end of the fight if his performance is noteworthy. These awards consist of either the bull's ear(s) or tail (an even greater reward) or the ultimate award, leaving out the main grand door of the bullring. Overall it was an experience I will never forget, but please don't ask me to repeat it!