May 4

Hello again
This weekend was a rather eventful one, so I’ll briefly summarize the high points. Friday was a fiesta, el Día del Trabajo. I think it’s the equivalent of Labor Day. So most of the museums and places I wanted to go to were closed. Hrmm. I went to the Iglesia de San Francisco el Grande, which was a gorgeous church covered with frescoes on the inside. There was actually a wedding going on when I was there, which was interesting. I don’t think I would have liked if people were coming and going from the church during my wedding, but there were a lot of visitors, so I didn’t feel too awkward. After that I went to the Plaza Mayor to do some touristy shopping and buy some gifts. I didn’t have anything to do that night, so I watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Spanish. J It was my first Friday without choir, but I didn’t even think of it that night. I guess I’m not missing it too badly.
Saturday was another fiesta, 2 de mayo. It’s the day when some of the people of Madrid stood up to Napoleon’s army and were killed, or something like that. I went to Sol and ran into a parade. I saw the procession of a few different military-looking groups, and a bunch of police officers. Then there were some guys on horses that started processing down another street. I don’t know if the parade changed route in the middle of it or what, but suddenly everyone started walking over to another place. It was strange. I waited a little longer at another place where there were a bunch of people, but I got impatient and left. I wanted to get to the museum before it closed. I went to the Academia de las Bellas Artes, which is a small art museum. It was nice, and it was free, which is always a plus!
Sunday I went with Katie to the Rastro, which is that huge flea market type thing that takes up an entire neighborhood. I got a pair of purple Converse shoes for 10 euros which I’m rather excited about! While we were there we saw a bunch of the other girls from AYA. With all the hundreds of people there, it was kinda funny that we ran into each other.
Sunday night I went to a bullfight! Jen and I were the only ones who hadn’t been, since everyone else went that day I had my choir concert and Jen came to see it. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I think it was better than I thought. Yes, there was blood, but it wasn’t all over the place, and yes they killed 6 bulls, but after the first one you got kind of desensitized. There were three matadors who got 2 bulls each. The saddest thing is how much the bulls are tortured before they’re killed. First they’re stabbed by a spear in the back, then 6 little mini spears are stabbed into their backs and left there, then a sword which stays in for a while before being pulled out right before it’s killed. Once it’s actually time for the killing the matador stabs it in the neck. Once it took only one stab before it died, but one bull lived through 4 stabs before it died. There are so many rules and so much ceremony and pomp and circumstance involved. I didn’t understand a lot of it. Manuel says there’s a reason for each of the things they do to the bull, but to the uneducated eye it looks like blatant torture. Sometimes the crowd started clapping for no apparent reason. The bullfighter did something good, but it looked just like everything else to me. I think Jen hated it, but I thought it was interesting from a detached, cultural perspective. I didn’t get all freaked out about it. I videotaped a couple of the bulls, if anyone’s interested in seeing it when I get back.
Today was the beginning of the last week of school! I can hardly believe it! Today it’s exactly two weeks until I go to Dublin to meet the boys! Ahh!!
I’ll write again soon!
Bethany