Bloodsport (December 20)

In the interest of simplicity, and saving money and time, for breakfast on our second day in Mexico City, we hit a bakery down the street from our hotel. Breakfast and snacks for two was only $2.80USD. (Here's the map of the day.)

We had our first go at the subway system (here's some pics of our most frequently-used station). Uber-cheap (only about 20 cents to ride) and easy to navigate, the subway system instantly became our main method of moving around the city. At different times of the day, it could get very crowded; they would have separate cars for women and children. We would be literally shoved in by the crowd; police were posted everywhere, but they looked more bored than vigilant. The subway itself is fairly clean, considering the number of people using it, but, as always, it stunk of urine. There were also people who would come onto the cars selling things: candy, balloons, scissors, decorations, music. The music people were the most annoying, because they had cobbled together speakers into a backpack, and would blast music while shouting out what CDs they had. Generally they were ignored, but some people would buy from them. They would then get off at the next stop, and hop into the next car on the train. Many had a child by the hand or strapped to their backs.

Our first stop was to take us near to the outdoor arena where there would be a bullfight that evening. We wanted to scout out the place, and buy our tickets ahead of time. Unfortunately, after much walking of the streets, we realized that the arena was nowhere near to the subway stop, and we ended up hailing a cab to take us the rest of the way. The streets around the arena were closed off, in preparation of the crowds that would appear. Many food tents and stalls were already set-up, preparing the standard fried meat and tortillas. We found the ticket booth, and splurged for 7th row seats (for those interested: $38USD each).

We hopped on the subway again, and made our way downtown to finish our tour of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Most of the areas in the building were closed off to the public, but there were galleries for various Mexican artists. Mostly there were murals, most of which depicted Mexico's violent past. Aside from the hard-wood floors and molded ceilings, there wasn't much to see of the historic building's interior, which was a disappointment. But I did learn that I am not really a fan of large, aggressive Mexican mural-work.

We hopped the subway back to the hotel to drop off our camera (not allowed at the bullfight) and take a breather before heading off again to the arena. Showtime (4pm) was coming up, and we wanted to be early. The streets around the arena were packed with crowds and vendors. Aside from the food tents, there were stands selling snacks, shirts, hats, pictures of bullfights, and a couple large guys walking around selling what they claimed were Cuban cigars.

We walked into the arena, and when they saw our tickets, we were swiftly lead through a series of tunnel and checkpoints to our seats. The arena, the Plaza Mexico, is the world's largest bullring and it certainly felt like it (here's an statillite pic of it; beside it is a giant soccar stadium). The stairs down to our seats were uneven, narrow, and steep. The beer vendors had no problems carrying down large tubs of ice and beer; candy and hat vendors nimbly climbed over seats through the rows selling their wares. There was a brass band high up in the stands; we soon discovered that they played intermittently throughout the matches, to provide tension or humour I suppose.

(And a note for the ladies out there: there are no toilet seats, and you have to buy your toilet paper, if you want any.)

As we waited (about half an hour before show time), the dirt ring was being watered down for dust. Circles were measured out from the centre, and drawn in the dirt with white powder (here's a pic). Eventually, the show started to get underway. With much fanfare, the matadors came out and presented themselves to the audience. In addition to the 5 matadors for the 6 fights that night (one guy fought twice), there were about 6 more matadors, who I refer to as the 'assistants.' Also presenting themselves to the crowd were 3 guys on horses. The guys carried long spears, and they and their horses were covered in thick, quilted pads; the horses' eyes were also all covered over (more on this in a bit). Finally introducing themselves were the 'crew,' the guys who sweep and re-prep the ring in between each match, and 2 guys steering a couple of Clydesdale horses wearing a harness contraption (their job is to drag away the dead bull).

The first match began with the bull charging out into the ring, and being taunted by the assisting matadors. They would duck behind the panels of the rings when the bull came near, allowing it to crash against the wood with a loud thud before having it run to the other side of the ring (most of the bulls weighed about a ton and are about 4 years old). This is done to show off the animal, and also to tire it out. Next, the fight's matador domes out, and does the standard-from-the-movies cape dance with the bull; the main point of this is again to tire out the bull.

Next the guys on the horses come out. The bull, who is less vigorous by now, sees the horses, and charges one of them. He runs into the side of the animal, which is very thickly padded. This is obviously way the horses eyes are completely covered; I can't imagine a horse under normal circumstances staying calm as a bull rams into it. The bull pushes at the horse, who must be trained in some way to resist falling over. The rider spears the bull between it's shoulders, pushing it away and giving the bull its first injury.

The horsemen leave, and the assistants come out. One at a time, for a total of 3 times, an assistant (and a few times, a matador himself) run straight at the bull, jump, and stab the animal in the back of the neck with two barbed sticks. If they both land properly, these sticks remain hanging off of the bull's neck for the duration of the fight. If one of both of the sticks fail to hit their mark, the performer is booed by the crowd. At this point, although the bull is mad again, blood is visibly pouring down the animal's flanks, and it is frothing heavily at the mouth. Its tongue lolls out of its mouth, and is visibly tired.

The final act is with the sword. The matador comes out, and does more capework, this time drawing the bull closer and closer. This is when the crowd does the shouting of "Ole". His sword remains hidden behind the cape, and gets within inches of the bull, twisting, turning, and twirling. He stares down the bull, whose chest is heaving, blood is dripping. Suddenly, the matador lunges forward, and slides the sword between the bull's shoulder-blades, right to the hilt. (Apparently it is intended to pierce both heart and the aorta. Sometimes they miss and puncture the lungs instead.) During one of the six matches, the arena was so quiet, we could hear the wet sucking noise as the blade slid home.

The bull, having been tired out, speared, barbed, and now stabbed through the heart, still takes some minutes to fall to its knees. The assistants may come out and taunt the bull some more, in a bid to fully exhaust it. Once the bull is down a special matador comes out, does a funny shuffle-jog around the bull, pulls out a large knife, and stabs the bull at the base of its skull. After wiggling the blade, and fully killing the bull, he pulls it loose, wipes the blood onto the animals hide, and walks away.

Amid the cheering of the crowd, the Clydesdale horses are steered over to the dead bull, who is attached to their harnesses and then dragged away. The ring-crew fixes up the chalk circles, and then the next match begins.

The matador that performed twice was horrible; he could not manage to kill his bulls. He failed to bury his sword in both matches. He was actually booed by the crowd, while his bulls were cheered! My end assessment: PETA wouldn't agree with this sport, and while I found it brutal it was nonetheless somehow entertaining.

After the show, we had street tacos at one of the stands outside the arena. The meat tacos were okay, and neither of us got sick, so overall, a pretty good time was had by all (except for the bulls, of course)...