Joanna Biggar's Blog

    Much as the Mardi Gras was a gringo thing, the rodeo, which went on for three weeks, in the fishing village of Brasilito, about 3 km. from our apartment, was a Tico thing. On Friday afternoon we hitched a ride on the school bus and spent the rest of the day and night in the palm-thatched, tin-roofed cluster of “tienda” and “sopas” (small stores and restaurants) with its magnificent stretch of palm-fringed beach.

Soccer in the Sand We watched young men play soccer at the water's edge, horseback-riders come and go, dodged kids on bikes and driving ATV's like madmen, swam, found suitable food and drink, and waited for the crescent moon to rise pink over the sea. Then it was time for the rodeo. As a traveling show, it comes to town and slaps up a wooden "stadium" with seats. If you're fussy about your structures at sports events being vaguely up to some kind of code, this definitely is not your kind of place. Similarly, if you cringe at seeing rides for kids like whirling "octopuses" and whirligigs and other wonders not seen in the U.S. since the '50s, all served with snacks cooked in shacks over rickety stoves and cotton candy, you might not go for this. But if you go for ice-cold beer and being in the center of a lot of Ticos on a hot night cheering, laughing and having a great time to roars and music ranging from local mariachi to reggae to hip-hop, you'd love this.A Night on the Town in Brasilito

      The general idea of the”rodeo” was for some young honcho to climb on back of a bull and to try to stay on. There were what appeared to be picadores, only with red flags, to taunt the bulls, and other guys in the ring who just seemed to yell and jump around.  Whenever the bull appeared to be getting close, they scrambled under the stands. Similarly, whenever the bull successfully threw off its rider, there was a mad scramble to try to get him to “rage,” but mostly the bulls seemed interested in getting back into their pens, and presumably, their feed bags. The other highlight was two cowboys with lassos, who ran after the bull to “rope” it, but at best they caught him on part of the nose or ear. In one memorable scene, the bull stood still and stuck it’s neck out as if begging the cowboys to lasso him, but after a big show and wind-up….they missed even hitting him broadside with their ropes.

Bull? Si. Rider? No

      The show was announced by a sort of barker, whose main job seemed to be to sell beer and to promote local stores who evidently supported this event. For the last ride, the rider stayed on for an impressively long time, until the bull actually fell over — partially on top of him. This seemed a serious problem, and the poor rider was rushed to a box with a red cross on it, about 100 people following and peering in. We waited to hear what happened, but the barker went on selling beer, and eventually the crowd started drifting down from the stands. That appeared to be that.