La Matanza

Remember before I left for Spain, when I wrote that I hoped people in Sevilla would like jamón serrano as much as people in Madrid do? Well, they like it more. In fact, here they have jamón ibérico, which is supposedly even better. Serrano is to ibérico as Dunkin' Donuts is to Starbucks. I can't tell the difference, but the latter is considered to be of a higher quality and thus is much more expensive. The point here is that in order for people in Sevilla to be happy, a lot of pigs have to die. And so, my gap year group was brought to a matanza (slaughter) of a pig in the countryside this weekend. I was dreading this. Even hard-core aficionados of toreo (bullfighting), which to me, looks pretty gross, were shocked when I told them my weekend plans. "You're going to see a matanza? Those are really disgusting. You will probably be a vegetarian by Monday."

The matanza was, in fact, really disgusting. It was sad and disturbing when the pig was brought out of the truck and forced onto the slaughtering table, and it made some pretty upsetting noises. Fortunately, after it died and the carniceros (butchers) burned off its hair and skin (that was also pretty gross, for the record), it no longer looked like an animal. It looked like uncooked food. After the pig had been dismembered, we left and went to a nearby museum. It was a jamón museum. I'm telling you, they take it really seriously here.

The guy who administered the fatal cut, sharpening his knives.

I can't imagine a pig-killer looking any different, can you?

Needless to say, I'm glad the matanza is over and that there isn't another one scheduled for this semester. While this experience failed to convert me to vegetarianism, it did make me feel like puking and/or crying.

I've let the matanza overshadow our visit to Córdoba, an error which I will now try to correct because Córdoba is really quite impressive. I had studied its famous mosque-turned-cathedral in Art History last year. I was dazzled by the rows and rows of red and white arches and the delicate light that entered through high-up windows and trickled down to the floor. I had high expectations for the visit to Córdoba, and those expectations were all surpassed by miles. I will let some of my photos do the talking:

The cathedral, which was built inside the mosque. Another burn on Islam!

An example of the aforementioned red and white

arches being bathed in delicate light.

The arches and some typical Islamic architecture.

The columns are all different from one another because they were recycled--taken

from ancient ruins! Sustainability points.

El grupo!

Well, I must say hasta luego. I have dance class tonight! More on that in my next post, I promise.