mas colones mas problemas: El Rodeo

Last night we had the privilege of attending a local rodeo. I have never been to a rodeo before, so I don't really have any frame of reference against which to compare the Costan Rican version, but I can assure you that what we witnessed yesterday evening was a cultural event. The rodeo was held in nearby Playa Carillo. Since we are in a rural area, the event seemed to draw most of the local population, and we recognized several people from our neck of the woods in Samara. Matt and I estimated that there were probably about four hundred people in attendance. Along with two guys from Oregon that live in our complex, we caught a cab in downtown Samara (wrongly assuming that cabs would be waiting outside the rodeo at its completion to return us to Samara). We were delivered to the rodeo shortly before the 5pm scheduled start time. We immediately realized how foolish we were to assume that the event might start punctually, but we got to enjoy some very good and exceptionally cheap Costa Rican style stadium food while we waited for the action to start.

The rodeo consisted of twelve participants each riding a bull. Most managed to stay on for longer than what I've seen in rodeos flipping through the channels on TV. It seems that the Costa Rican bulls aren't quite as virile as American bulls. The most unique thing about Costa Rican rodeo, however is that anyone from the audience who wants to jump down into the ring can do so at anytime. As the spectators got more and more liquored up over the course of the evening, more Ticos would get into the action by running around and taunting the bulls, and at times I thought that we were sure to see one of these guys get punctured by a bull horn. It took a bit of finagling for us to secure a ride back to Samara, but we made it home before midnight. I can't say that I've developed a new passion for rodeo, or that I plan to attend any more in the future, but last night was certainly one of the more entertaining evenings I've spent.

I've attached a video of one bull rider and some participatory spectators below, as well as some pictures that we took around Samara.