El Correo del Toro: watching the illustrious bull fighting

bull fightSpain in Mind is an anthology—a combination of excerpts by different writers and thinkers all relating to experiences and stories relating to Spain. The most interesting part about this book is the time span these stories are stretched between. Some of these stories were written centuries ago while others were written in the last few decades.

For someone merely reading the book (and not traveling) the collection of stories supplies them with choices, tidbits out of which to make a whole picture about Spain. For the traveler, though, I think the stories help to capture actual things they’ve seen but don’t necessarily have the words for.
Everyday around two o-clock, the city shuts down for siesta. It‘s frustrating that it isn’t possible to get anything accomplished between two and six in the afternoon. My prime errand running hours are no longer, and what’s more—I can’t run any errands on Sundays because the city is closed for the entire day. I feel these frustrations every week, but find it hard to explain to my friends back home. Alice Leccese Powers talks about this phenomenon in her introduction to the book, noting that “it is…difficult to find an open pharmacy in Madrid in the middle of the afternoon.”

While I have feelings similar to those expressed by Powers, there are others I couldn’t disagree with more: A few of the vignettes were about the world renowned bullfights that happen in Spain. I read this book after I had seen my first bull fight but, to me, it was nothing like the words Hemmingway used. While I may have found it intriguing, I came pretty close to reaching for my I-phone and finding the number for the local chapter of PETA. I left right before the second bull was slaughtered, not being able to handle any more of the gore.

Thinking of my own experience in relation to the words I saw on the page reminded me of the subjective nature of the written word. While you recount events to another, it isn’t ever the same as having been there—having seen it, having felt it. Before I left, one of my closest friends told me to take my camera absolutely everywhere—so as to capture all of what I saw and did. I’m not really big on taking pictures and now, thinking about this, I might know why. Similar to the written word, a photograph is subjective—while it might be a precise rendering of what was, that is not the same as exactly how I felt or what I thought in that instant.

Location