La Corrida de Totos
So in case you were wondering there is no such thing as a ¨pelea de toros¨in Ecuador. The correct word is corrida. Thus when I explained to my family that I was headed for a pelea de toros they thought I was out of my mind. The way that Ecuadorians take things literally when people try to speak fascinates me. For example I asked my host brother if he had received a hair cut, and apparently that does not translate, because if you received a hair cut that would mean that someone cut hair somewhere and then put it on your head. Thus a bull fight was actually a fight between two bulls, rather than a stand off between the matador and a snarling beast.
One quick thing about bull fights. They are vehemently opposed by the majority of the population. Saying that you went to a bull fight is the equivalent of saying that you love killing animals. I will never forget this one time my mom was wearing a vest with some fake hair inside and this crazy lady came up to us and started berating her. When she explained that is was fake, she continued to pop off like nothing had changed. That´s kind of how things roll here in Ecuador with bull fights. Even if you have never been in your life, going somehow signs you up in this cluster of people who are cruel to animals, but I could not pass up this opportunity.
This past week is Quito´s big festival. Thus the best matadors in the world travel to Quito to face off against the bulls. Most of them are from Spain, and there names and faces are plastered throughout Ecuador two weeks before the festival in excitement for the big event. Therefore, though I am absolutely burned out on riding Ecuador´s bus system, I bought another ticket to check out a bull fight.
Before I went I was under the impression that a bull fight is South America´s equivalent to NASCAR, and after seeing one, I am pretty sure that I hit the nail on the head. Basically everyone goes to see a great sporting event for one reason. In NASCAR people are in search of the most mind boggling, heart pounding, unbelievable car crash in the world. For bull fights people go to see a bull toss a matador around like a rag doll. Sure no one wants to see anybody die, and this is part of the thrill for NASCAR and bull fights. There is something so brave and daring about entering the devil´s mouth and walking out to tell about it. Sure you have both sports´art forms: picture perfect threading of a needle- either a textbook pass on the high side at the perfect moment, or a dazzling dance between man and bull-but let´s just call a spade a spade.
All the biggest and baddest bull fights in Quito are set at the Plaza de Toros in the northwest part of town. The first glance of outside of the edifice is stunning. My best explanation is that your history textbook just plopped a picture into the middle of a modern city. I got a similar feeling watching Ridley Scott´s Gladiator and seeing the Coliseum for the first time. The architecture of both buildings just puts you in your place as you feel the history of so many generations of people speed through your body. The circular stadium, flanked with keyhole looking doors, and an open air top, of the Plaza de Toros looms above city streets filled with buses, trolleys, and stop lights like a relic harkening citizens back to an earlier time.
In honor of the Festival of Quito the streets surrounding the Plaza are packed with people and places to buy beer. Ecuadorians take tailgaiting under their own special wing. Some open spaces are converted to make shift bars that shell out thirty ounce beers for a dollar each. Food vendors pack the streets selling off beer´s favorite companions: chips, peanuts, and other salty foods. A block east of the plaza stands the famous plaza restaurant where you can chow down on bull meat, including the native specialty bull penis soup, all you want before the big event. Given my choice I signed up for the beer and penuts, though maybe next time I will clobber red meat with the carnivores in the bull fight restaurant.
Inside the plaza is even more party central. Huge stages spew out live music, and every nook, corner, and cranny was supporting Ecuador´s cell phone company PORTA, the apparent sponsor of the day. Even inside beers were a dollar for gigantic cups. However, as we arived slightly late, which came into play big time a little later, we got to part of the recycling movement, as we grabbed used cups, washed em out to the best of our ability, and filled up with some delicious ice cold Pilsener.
If I haven´t mentioned Pilsener yet I might as well. Ecuador loves this beer, and my host father said that Spain has even started selling it to appease their inhabitants´ taste buds. It´s pretty standard fare party beer (think Coors Light), but they are served in gigantic bottles, and I have never tasted a beer that tastes better with salty foods. It´s also not miserable cold (probably for the watered down flavor), which is an enormous plus in a country where refrigeration is seldom acknowledged as a form for making beverages more deliicious. In fact eggs aren´t even refrigerated as they have no preservatives, which as mildly intimidating the first time I saw eggs sitting out on the counter top for weeks.
After feeling sufficiently tailgate certified to party in the plaza, we headed up to our seats. One of our friends had bought me my ticket earlier and had explained that in Ecuador the cheap seat tickets to bull fights are only five to seven dollars face value. However every single ticket is bought by scalpers on the morning of the bull fight, and sold for 10 to 15 dollars. Thus tickets in hand we headed for the door.
It looked basically like the entrance to a cave. Awesome. I could feel the clock being turned back to more barbaric times. As I ducked down into the aperture, my body was giddy with delight. One of my favorite feelings in the world is the first time you see a stadium in all its glory. After winding your way through the staircases and beer vendors, you finally walk out into the open air, see the grass\court\dirt\whatever, and say your introductions. The most awe inspiring feeling I have had to date is Fenway, because I was there during a playoff hunt, but Wrigley and Pacbell are close seconds. As I scampered up the seven flights of stairs to the nosebleed section, I couldn´t wait for my introduction to Quito´s Plaza de Toros.
I was not dissapointed. The mountains surrounding Cotopaxi surround the stadium basting the views with the dynamic green trees and jutting rocks of the Andes Mountains. The stadium itself is perfectly circular and each row of seats is basically one long bench that circles the entire structure. There are no staircases in the Plaza and thus three foot step ups from row to row are the only passage that allows you access to your seat if you are in the upper rows.
The ring is a perfect brown dirt circle, with one white chalk ring about six feet in from the edge of the ring. Set up at 12, 2, 6, and 9 o´clock in the ring are stone walls separted from the wall by one feet that stand four feet high. The walls themselves are probably six feet high and are covered with sponsorships and announcements, much like US stadiums.
The second thing you notice about the bull fights are the Panama Hats. Remeber them? I didn´t really think that Ecuadorians wore them in actuality until seeing the bull fight. EVERYONE and their mother´s mother brandishes their panama hat big time in honor of the bull fight. My host brother explained to me why. Apparently bull fights are basically social gatherings for Ecuador´s elites. Everyone dresses up Kentucky Derby style in sun dresses, leisure suits, and Panama hats to check out the bull fights. Half the people dont even watch the fight. They just chat it up with their perspective business partner, new boyfriend, or night´s hook up. Ecuador´s beautiful people are on public display for each other. Thus if you are still with me we now have a bull fight that is one part NASCAR and one part Kentuck Derby. Good mix? Not at all.
Remember how I said we were late? Thus when we arrived the stadium was packed with people all heavily sloshed and comfortable where they were. Thus as I chatted up the local Ecuadorians finding out how the fight was transpiring and where our seats were, Ally was climbing the rows doing the same thing. Ally, however, was walking quickly in the right direction and ended up arriving at our seats before I could catch up with her.
An enormous portley Ecuadorian lady had plastered hereself and her booty in our seats for the duration of the fight. Ally felt this wasn´t a good scenario, so here is a quick rundown of what transpired:
Actually I am going to go to the next entry because I have a feeling my computer might bail on me. Read On!
One quick thing about bull fights. They are vehemently opposed by the majority of the population. Saying that you went to a bull fight is the equivalent of saying that you love killing animals. I will never forget this one time my mom was wearing a vest with some fake hair inside and this crazy lady came up to us and started berating her. When she explained that is was fake, she continued to pop off like nothing had changed. That´s kind of how things roll here in Ecuador with bull fights. Even if you have never been in your life, going somehow signs you up in this cluster of people who are cruel to animals, but I could not pass up this opportunity.
This past week is Quito´s big festival. Thus the best matadors in the world travel to Quito to face off against the bulls. Most of them are from Spain, and there names and faces are plastered throughout Ecuador two weeks before the festival in excitement for the big event. Therefore, though I am absolutely burned out on riding Ecuador´s bus system, I bought another ticket to check out a bull fight.
Before I went I was under the impression that a bull fight is South America´s equivalent to NASCAR, and after seeing one, I am pretty sure that I hit the nail on the head. Basically everyone goes to see a great sporting event for one reason. In NASCAR people are in search of the most mind boggling, heart pounding, unbelievable car crash in the world. For bull fights people go to see a bull toss a matador around like a rag doll. Sure no one wants to see anybody die, and this is part of the thrill for NASCAR and bull fights. There is something so brave and daring about entering the devil´s mouth and walking out to tell about it. Sure you have both sports´art forms: picture perfect threading of a needle- either a textbook pass on the high side at the perfect moment, or a dazzling dance between man and bull-but let´s just call a spade a spade.
All the biggest and baddest bull fights in Quito are set at the Plaza de Toros in the northwest part of town. The first glance of outside of the edifice is stunning. My best explanation is that your history textbook just plopped a picture into the middle of a modern city. I got a similar feeling watching Ridley Scott´s Gladiator and seeing the Coliseum for the first time. The architecture of both buildings just puts you in your place as you feel the history of so many generations of people speed through your body. The circular stadium, flanked with keyhole looking doors, and an open air top, of the Plaza de Toros looms above city streets filled with buses, trolleys, and stop lights like a relic harkening citizens back to an earlier time.
In honor of the Festival of Quito the streets surrounding the Plaza are packed with people and places to buy beer. Ecuadorians take tailgaiting under their own special wing. Some open spaces are converted to make shift bars that shell out thirty ounce beers for a dollar each. Food vendors pack the streets selling off beer´s favorite companions: chips, peanuts, and other salty foods. A block east of the plaza stands the famous plaza restaurant where you can chow down on bull meat, including the native specialty bull penis soup, all you want before the big event. Given my choice I signed up for the beer and penuts, though maybe next time I will clobber red meat with the carnivores in the bull fight restaurant.
Inside the plaza is even more party central. Huge stages spew out live music, and every nook, corner, and cranny was supporting Ecuador´s cell phone company PORTA, the apparent sponsor of the day. Even inside beers were a dollar for gigantic cups. However, as we arived slightly late, which came into play big time a little later, we got to part of the recycling movement, as we grabbed used cups, washed em out to the best of our ability, and filled up with some delicious ice cold Pilsener.
If I haven´t mentioned Pilsener yet I might as well. Ecuador loves this beer, and my host father said that Spain has even started selling it to appease their inhabitants´ taste buds. It´s pretty standard fare party beer (think Coors Light), but they are served in gigantic bottles, and I have never tasted a beer that tastes better with salty foods. It´s also not miserable cold (probably for the watered down flavor), which is an enormous plus in a country where refrigeration is seldom acknowledged as a form for making beverages more deliicious. In fact eggs aren´t even refrigerated as they have no preservatives, which as mildly intimidating the first time I saw eggs sitting out on the counter top for weeks.
After feeling sufficiently tailgate certified to party in the plaza, we headed up to our seats. One of our friends had bought me my ticket earlier and had explained that in Ecuador the cheap seat tickets to bull fights are only five to seven dollars face value. However every single ticket is bought by scalpers on the morning of the bull fight, and sold for 10 to 15 dollars. Thus tickets in hand we headed for the door.
It looked basically like the entrance to a cave. Awesome. I could feel the clock being turned back to more barbaric times. As I ducked down into the aperture, my body was giddy with delight. One of my favorite feelings in the world is the first time you see a stadium in all its glory. After winding your way through the staircases and beer vendors, you finally walk out into the open air, see the grass\court\dirt\whatever, and say your introductions. The most awe inspiring feeling I have had to date is Fenway, because I was there during a playoff hunt, but Wrigley and Pacbell are close seconds. As I scampered up the seven flights of stairs to the nosebleed section, I couldn´t wait for my introduction to Quito´s Plaza de Toros.
I was not dissapointed. The mountains surrounding Cotopaxi surround the stadium basting the views with the dynamic green trees and jutting rocks of the Andes Mountains. The stadium itself is perfectly circular and each row of seats is basically one long bench that circles the entire structure. There are no staircases in the Plaza and thus three foot step ups from row to row are the only passage that allows you access to your seat if you are in the upper rows.
The ring is a perfect brown dirt circle, with one white chalk ring about six feet in from the edge of the ring. Set up at 12, 2, 6, and 9 o´clock in the ring are stone walls separted from the wall by one feet that stand four feet high. The walls themselves are probably six feet high and are covered with sponsorships and announcements, much like US stadiums.
The second thing you notice about the bull fights are the Panama Hats. Remeber them? I didn´t really think that Ecuadorians wore them in actuality until seeing the bull fight. EVERYONE and their mother´s mother brandishes their panama hat big time in honor of the bull fight. My host brother explained to me why. Apparently bull fights are basically social gatherings for Ecuador´s elites. Everyone dresses up Kentucky Derby style in sun dresses, leisure suits, and Panama hats to check out the bull fights. Half the people dont even watch the fight. They just chat it up with their perspective business partner, new boyfriend, or night´s hook up. Ecuador´s beautiful people are on public display for each other. Thus if you are still with me we now have a bull fight that is one part NASCAR and one part Kentuck Derby. Good mix? Not at all.
Remember how I said we were late? Thus when we arrived the stadium was packed with people all heavily sloshed and comfortable where they were. Thus as I chatted up the local Ecuadorians finding out how the fight was transpiring and where our seats were, Ally was climbing the rows doing the same thing. Ally, however, was walking quickly in the right direction and ended up arriving at our seats before I could catch up with her.
An enormous portley Ecuadorian lady had plastered hereself and her booty in our seats for the duration of the fight. Ally felt this wasn´t a good scenario, so here is a quick rundown of what transpired:
Actually I am going to go to the next entry because I have a feeling my computer might bail on me. Read On!
posted by ecuadortraveler at 9:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home