Bull fighting

Yesterday I went with my host uncle to a festival where there was flamenco dancing and bull fighting! I almost didn't go as I felt so sick from this week, but I realized I would have been home alone all day if I didn't so it was good I went. He's a crazy guy but was so fun to talk to. I learned a lot about Ecuador and culture from him so it was so interesting.

The bull fighting was an interesting experience. They raise specific breeds of cows just for it, the females are for smaller events like this one and the males are for bigger celebrations like the independence day (December 6) celebration. They start off releasing the bulls into the ring, then they trick them by having lots of guys wave their pink capes at them. Then one guy is the main fighter so he takes a red cape and tries to get the bull to make circles around him, to which the crowd says "Ole." If he's doing a good job, music starts to play. If not, no music. I felt like I was in Spain. I'm glad they didn't kill these ones after fighting them. They're females so they're raised to produce more potential bulls.

Then I went with Fabian to a family member's hacienda which was up a mountain a ways and they had cows and dogs. It was beautiful. I think my favorite part was still driving through the little, broken down towns. I love them and have since going to Guatemala. I think they're so beautiful and cute even though the houses are falling apart and they're not what the majority of people would call beautiful.