OVERSEAS BRIEFING

Author: LINDSEY SELDIN

MADRID - My curiosity got the best of me a few weeks ago when I decided to attend my first, and most likely only, bullfight here in Madrid. On a chilly Sunday afternoon, I headed off to the stadium, ignoring my nerves and avoiding excessive food consumption before witnessing the blood bath that was awaiting me within the stadium walls.

When the bull enters, four matador trainees run out waving pink capes to confuse it. As the bull charges at them, they run like cowards behind little openings in the wooden perimeter surrounding the ring. Then, two men come out on horses armed with body padding, while holding a long pole with spikes on the end. They taunt the bull, which eventually rams its horns into the horse as the horsemen stick the spike into the bull and push it away.

Next, three more men come out on foot, each holding two long bars with spikes on the end. The bull charges each one of them as they jump and jam the spikes into the back of the bull. Without flawless timing, they would be dead. The bull rammed into one of them, which was almost exciting, but unfortunately for bull fans like myself, he recovered quickly.

After this, the matador enters with his gaudy, glittery outfit and graceful, comical hip swaying. He swings his red cape and sword to taunt the bull until it becomes exhausted and begins to stumble, sometimes falling or even flipping. After tormenting the bull, the matador asks for another sword that he then stabs into the back of the bull, killing it. If the bull doesn't immediately die, the matador is a loser and the crowd boos. After the death, six horses enter attached to a chain which is hooked to the bull's horn and used to drag it out of the ring.

Through the three hours and six fights, some very unusual things happened. The second matador was so ashamed by his inability to kill a bull after numerous tries that he marched to the center of the ring and cut off his ponytail, which is very rare. In the fourth round, the judge disapproved of one of the bulls, which he sent away to live a long and happy life. This is also rare, but it brightened my day.

Though I won't be rushing to another bullfight anytime soon, I'm glad I built up the courage to keep my eyes uncovered for at least half of it.