My last weekend in Caceres was filled with lots of great memories. Being able to spend time with Ginny and the other people in my group, as well as going to my first bull fight made this weekend a great way to end the semester.

Friday day Ginny and I made an attempt at being productive and getting some things done before we were going to go out that evening. After lunch, we went to the mall and picked a few things up and then came home and went for a run before getting ready for the night. A bunch of the girls in our group wanted to go out one last time to Oxigeno so Ginny and I got all dressed up and walked into town around 10. When we got to Oxigeno, it was surprisingly dead, and we both felt a little weird as we walked in since there was some family with their small children sitting up at the bar. After a little bit though, our friends started to file in. We grabbed a table and took over a good chunk of the bar with our group of girls and Sean. We spent the night sitting in the bar joking about all the things that we had done the past semester and all the plans that everyone has for after our time here in Caceres. There is a good chunk of people going to travel afterwards, as well as others who will be returning home. Ginny always likes to try and coax me into coming with her to travel afterwards, and as fun as it would be, I am excited to get back to the states. I figure it will give me some motivation to come back to europe again and see the rest of the places that I would like to travel. After spending a good chunk of the evening at Oxigeno, Ginny and I walked to catch the night bus home and went to bed around 3.

Saturday morning we both slept in a bit and then got ready for the day. It was a little cooler out than it had been the day before so we got caught up on homework and studying that needed to be done before our big finals week. We had hoped that we could do a BBQ on that day but with the weather being a little on the bad side we decided not to do it. Ginny and I both stayed in for the majority of the day and then I went out to take a walk before we got ready for our big dinner at our favorite chinese restaurant. We had all been looking forward to going to Big House for awhile, so Ginny and I quickly got ready and met the rest of the group at 9:00. They werent quite ready for us when we arrived so we grabbed a beer at the bar next to the restaurant and waited for our table to be ready to go. At around 9:30 we were seated and got all of our food ordered. I got the pineapple chicken and some fried rice and Ginny and I split a dessert after dinner. It was a really nice meal and we ended up staying there until midnight. After dinner, we went into town to go to the Hookah bar. This particular bar is one that we had found earlier in the semester and had gone to because it was more of a chill place to hang out and had more of a selection of drinks. But, we decided that this time around we would try some hookah since it would be our last time there. We got Jasmine flavored tobacco and sat down to smoke for a bit when we realized that one of our hoses had a hole in it. This made it very hard to smoke, and as the bar was closing at 1:00, we didnt have too much time to actually enjoy ourselves. We finally got it all working and were able to hang out for a bit, but after about a half an hour, we left to go meet up with the rest of the group. We spent the rest of the evening hopping from bar to bar and then eventually going to the discos around 3. After a few hours of that I was ready to go home and left around 5:00 to go back to bed. It was a really fun night, and I was somewhat proud of that fact that I almost reached full spainyard status by staying out until after 4, but I can in no way compete with the kids here who will stay out till 8:00 in the morning like its no big deal.

The next morning, I woke up surprisingly early and decided to try and get a start on my packing. I moved a lot of the stuff that I have into a spare room to try and organize all of my things before I actually have to pack on wednesday. It is going to be quite the challenge trying to get everything that I have plus all of the things I have bought in two bags, but its gotta be done. After making an attempt to pack, I went into town with Ginny to meet some of the other students in our group to study for a bit for our history final. We got some work done at the restaurant, but eventually had to leave to go to the bull fight.

We arrived at the plaza de toros an hour before the actual fight so we could try and get a good seat. This ended up not being too big of a problem since the arena didnt sell out, but I was still glad we came and got front row, or at least I thought I was.... The show got started around 6 with the horses parading around the plaza along with all of the matadors. After they were all cleared, they released the first bull in the arena. Now, just to give you a little background, this was my very first bull fight. I figured I would atleast check it out considering it was such a big part of their culture. I had heard that they could be pretty grusome in the past, but I don't think any amount of stories can really prepare you for what really happens. Okay, so the first bull ( 1 of 6 that will be killed ) is released from the cell that he has been cooped up in for the past two days and is put out into the plaza. They have a bunch of little matadors that I would compare to rodeo clowns that are waiting for him. These guys taunt the bull and get it riled up for the fight. Then, the real matador comes out to do the actual fight. He does the typical run the toro through the red cape business, and then has two guys come out to throw these spikes into the bulls back. The spikes are similar to a bowling pin with a gaint fish hook at the end. The hook rips into their skin and rips even more when the bull moves since the pin that is connected to it is just flopping around. Alright, so once they have about 4 of those in the bulls back, they bring out the horses. This was one of my least favorite parts. So, they bring these horses in who have full armor on, and they have the bull charge the horse. The horse has blinders on and cant see whats going on but just gets dominated by the bull, and then the guy who is on top of the horse gets to stab the bull in the back as well. After that happens, they have the horses leave the arena and the matador messes with the bull a little more until he thinks that he is getting too weak. You see, a good matador will kill the bull when it is still coherant and is putting up a decent fight. It is more in-humane for the matador to make it suffer until its on its knees for him to kill it. So after the matador realizes that the bull wont put on a good show, it gets a giant sword out and has to stab the bull right behind the head between its neck and shoulder blades. If its a good hit, the bull will die, if not, you have to keep doing it until its dead. Of course, the very first time I see a bull fight, the matador is terrible and had to stab the bull 10 times before he actually killed it. Although the next matador after the first was much more skilled and put on a "better show" I still dont think I would ever attend another bull fight in my life. The amount of blood that is shed and the cruel way that they kill them is a little much for me. Its just sad becasue the bull looks so confused and grunts and moans when he gets hit. It was terrible watching them trying to breathe but not be able to because of all the stab wounds and not be able to charge because the tendons in their neck had been cut. I understand that it is a "part of the culture" and people dont think its cruel but actually a more of a valiant death for the bull, but I still think its unnecessary.

Needless to say, I didnt sleep very well sunday night but got up bright and early for class on monday. I had my history final and did a lot better than I thought I would. Only two more tests on wednesday and I will be officially done with classes here in Caceres.

This next week has a lot to hold and I am excited to see how it all unfolds!