Cadiz, Spain

We had our first pre-port tonite, and for Spring alums, you would be interested to know the approach was completely changed. Our Dr. (Chris) and one of the nurses did a very funny flamenco dance to the background on the screen of some cautions and suggestions of things to avoid while on shore, Everybody laughed and I am sure also listened as it was not presented as prohibitions but as cautions, "which we are sure you guys wouldn't do anyway."A much more positive outlook. It would be interesting to see a comparison the results in incidents.

Saturday, Sept 4- We arrived in Cadiz early in the morning. It was was still completely dark at 7.30 am. (I think Spain is a time zone of its own) We cleared the ship be 9.30,. and I went off to the first trip which was advertised as "whale watching" We were immediately told that due to the levant winds (winds from the west, very strong and very dry) we would not be able to go to Tarifa but would instead go to a bay by Gibralter and look at dolphins. I have seen plenty of dolphins in my life but, no matter I would like to see Gibralter. Our guide was a young man with a varied background. His mother Australian, father Scottish. He was born in Hong Kong and lived all over. A bright and engaging young man.We drove through the old part of Cadiz. It has cobbled streets, old and elegant buildings and churches and is charming. The new part is just like any other city. Cadiz is the oldest town on the Iberian Peninsula. On our way out of town we passed through salt marshland farming country and a "white town" built that way as a protection from the heat. We arrived at our research boat in the very commercial town of Alcarzar and set off on a two hour cruise under the Rock of Gibralter.(which I was more interested in than the dolphins). I was also very interested in watching the dynamics of a young family sitting near me. They had two children, ages about 1 and 3. The little girl was being held and kissed by the mother as she fed her a bottle. The little boy had a pacifier but obviously wanted to be held. He knocked the bottle out of the babies mouth. The mother snatched the pacifier from him. Everyone screamed. It was wonderful to watch sibling rivalry develop. It ended with the father taking the baby and the boy repossessing his mother.

Sunday, Sept. 4- Bullfight

This trip was led by Carrie Douglas, a Prof. of anthropology and author of the book" Bulls, Bullfighting and Spanish Identity" We learned that the bulls used for fighting are coddled and receive special treatment and food all their lives until the final 20 minutes of the fight. Bullfights usually take place in conjunction with a fiesta, as did the one we saw. We drove from Cadiz l ½ hours.The drive took us through olive groves, dry pasture land and "white' villages and up a switchedback road to a little village . The bullring was made of stone from the mountains and was built into the side of the hill. It was quite small so we were able to see very clearly and we had front row seats (high enough above the ring so that there ws no danger of the bull jumping over!!)

The bullfight was a "corrida de toros" or the highest form of bullfight. It is very structured and choreographed and divided into three parts. But first comes the parade; the servants on horseback, the three matadors (waving to the crowd) the picadors on padded and blindfolded horses, the bandarillas,short beribboned sticks, carried by men on foot and lastly two mules who will drag the dead bull out of the ring.

After they have paraded around and left, a flourish of trumpets and the bull is let into the ring. He rushes around the ring, charging everything in sight, and the matador stands to the side observing him. He may go out and do a few turns to test him out. Then the picador comes in on his horse carrying a long stick. The bull charges the horse and the picador plunges his stick into the hump of the bull just behind his shoulders to make a mark in just the right place so that the matador can place his final sword. The horse does not get hurt. The bull is then distracted and the bandarillas are placed by two men on foot, who dodge the charging bull and place their mark. The matador now comes in to do his show. Matadores are like rock stars in Spain and are paid equivalently. They are elegantly dressed and perform what can only be seen as a dance with the bull. The purpose is to show how brave and in control of the bull he is, how near to the dangerous bull he can get, and how beautifully he performs by hardly moving his feet but having the bull charge around him. After the bull is tired, the matador will get his sword for the final kill, which is an elegant but powerful thrust to the hump. It is very important at this point that the bull's head be down so that he can reach between the horns for the correct space which will kill the bull by severing his spinal cord and aorta. The bull dies almost instantly. Of course, at any point, something can go wrong and various disasters can occur. This did not occur at this fight.

I was expecting to find all this pretty cruel and repulsive. However, because there seems to be a lot of respect for the bull and a pretty fast death, I did not find it so. The matador is "macho" to the extreme but quite beautiful in their artistry. Bullfights would never be my activity of choice, but seeing this was an educational experienceI am glad I had

Afterward we went to another village and had tappas and wine. Much too late for me, but this is the Spanish experience.We got home at 1 am!

Monday, Sept 6 A day of rest!!

Tuesday Sept. 7

I had made arrangements with our guide of last night to get tickets to the Andalusian horse show in Jerez, a little town near Cadiz. One of the other LLLs, Pat, came with me. We decided, since we really didn't know where we were going, to take a cab in order to be sure that we went to the right place. It cost $50. We also decided that we would recognize the ship and could therefore get back by bus, $3.00!! The Escuela Andaluza de Arte Ecuestre, was a block large collection of buildings with stables, training rings and an indoor show ring. This is the original of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, with the same advanced dressage training, but with Andalusian horses. These are very large animals, probably 18 hands, in perfect condition and very well muscled. They performed for 1½ hours and I think I have some very good pictures which I will send as soon as I can get into my blog again (don't quite know why I can't at the moment and the IT people will not be here till Thursday am). We set sail on Wednesday nite for Casablanca and arrive Thursday at noon. Hope I can post my blog by then.

Thursday am. Got the blog straightened out but unfortuately the videos of the horses and the bullfight will have to wait for a home showing. The band width here will not allow a video and I didn't take any stills of these two events