Fiestas Patronales

Our massive patron saint holidays ended in the beginning of August after a solid month of festivation. The central event in all of this celebrating was of course the much anticipated bull fighting/riding. Although the reality was just, or more, as entertaining as we could have hoped for, it was not exactly what we expected.

I always envisioned bull fighting as we see it in the movies, where a handsome Spaniard is dressed in an elegant suit, wielding a intricate sword and a deep red cape. I always imagined bull riding as we see it on ESPN, where professional cowboys from Texas tactfully evade the wrath of a purebred monster. Our events were nothing like either of these.

Our town's mayor's office rebuilt a brand new bull ring for this year's festival, complete with grand stands for the fans, a box for the mayor and his cabinet, chain-link fence and zinc roof to protect the spectators, and a well designed containment area for the bulls. Watching the construction over the months increased the excitement greatly, as we observed the amount of planning, care, and resources put into the event center.

The first day came and we were sure to be there, along with some PC friends that we invited to experience the famed Nagarote spectacle. The stands were overfilled with people from the community, as well as others that had come from a great distance away, including a good number of family members that were visiting from places like Miami, Los Angelas, and Houston. The queen of the festivals entered on horseback, followed by a parade of cowboys and cowgirls dressed in their finest hats and spurs. The made a round of the ring while fireworks exploded overhead, then dismounted their horses and found their places in the mayor's box. Next came the brave young fighters, and here is where Nicaraguan bull fighter begins to differ from tradition.

At least 200 men enter the ring, ranging from the ages of 12 to 50. All of them ready to face down a bull, some with the help of a great deal more alcohol than others. Soon a cowboy leads the first bull from the containment area into the ring and with the help of others, ties the bull head to a pole near the middle. However, the danger begins as soon as the bull enters, since it is only being led by one rope. In more than a few instances the bull immediatly charged once it caught sight of the swarm of men. If everything went according to plan, the bull was pacificied enough to stand still while it's head was tied to the pole, ropes tied around its torso, and men wrestled one another for the position on top of the bull. Once aboard, usually the bull started bucking while still tied to the pole. This created the chance of the man being crushed between the bull and the pole, but somehow I never saw this actually happen.

The real fun begins once the bull is let loose. After all of the pulling, smacking, tieing, kicking, shocking, and general terrorizing of the bull, it is thoroughly emotional. The question is how the bull will express itself, which does actually vary. At times the bull will be so terrified and exhausted that it will simply trot around the ring while all of the men scramle up the sides as it comes around. Most of the bulls we saw were more animated. It turned out that this day was when they displayed the most bravo bulls of the area. In less than an hour we witnessed a compound fracture to the arm, a broken collar-bone, massive loss of teeth, concussion, and a person's leg get stepped on by a full-grown bull. Or course, even more close calls and death defying acts occurred than actual injuries. In short these men were not risk-adverse people. More injuries seemed to fuel the enthusiasm for the whole thing, and fuel our own enthusiasm for being on the other side of the fence.