Parenting at the Rodeo

A question for parents out there, a hypothetical: You are at a rodeo in a small lesser developed country. The rodeo ring is simply a small circle of dirt enclosed by a rickety looking fence made of bamboo and other woods, haphazardly nailed together and sometimes tied with thin rope. The bulls are large and horned. Here's the question: Do you allow your ten year and eight year old children to balance themselves on the rickety fence while holding a Fanta in one hand and while the aforementioned horned bull is charging at the fence, having already thrown its rider?

The answer seems obvious. No, right? In the States or Canada, Child Welfare would lock you up for any decision other than no. Might even lock you up for letting your kid drink Fanta from a glass bottle while balanced on said rickety fence, with or without the charging bovine.

But move your parenting brain to another place--a place where you've said, "Heck kids, don't wear a seat belt--it's too uncomfortable!"; a place where you've said to your ten year old, "I don't want you taking this 500 pound ATV faster than 25 mph over these potholes and ditches."; a place where you've said, "He's 3! Of course he can slide down this 500 meter long wire suspended hundreds of feet above the ground. He's gotta grow up some day!"; and a place where you've said, "Can't these undernourished horses run a bit faster for my un-helmeted eight year old?"

In that place, the answer is actually equally obvious. What the hell! Go for it! Just don't fall in to the ring and, if you do, don't worry about your Fanta, just get out.

For parents who think we've lost our mind, please know that we did draw a line at actually kicking the raging bull. When our friends' son Tom socked a big-horned Brahmin bull on the back with his foot, all four parents agreed that this was a step too far. He was promptly put back on the rickety fence and asked to be more gentle with the bulls.

And, Riley and Tae did not sit on the fence. (But, to be honest, they didn't ask.)

So, there we were at the Esperanza del Sur Rodeo, this Saturday. What an event! You can get some sense of it in this short video below (16 seconds) and an even better sense of it in this longer video made by our friend Koz. (My video camera died about 3 minutes into the event...)

We did not see the famed MalaCrianza, who may have come back the second day of the Rodeo (Sunday, which we missed), but the bulls we saw were impressive in their own right. Furthermore, the bravery/foolishness (often closely linked, particularly after a few beers) of the rodeo "clowns" was particularly entertaining. These barechested, beer-drinking ticos ran around the ring taunting the bulls in an effort to get them away from the fallen rider and back into the stable. They waved their t-shirts at them, danced in front of them, ran from them, sliding under the fence as they did so, more than once having their backside or whatever went last through the fence nearly gored. One time, they even gave a bull a beer--in its mouth or up its nose I couldn't quite tell. Suffice it to say this was not a PETA-approved event.

An ambulance stood at the ready, just outside the fence. But fortunately it was never called upon during the 3 and a half hour event. There were pork shish-kebabs, cold beer, Fanta, and every ten or fifteen minutes the opportunity to see whether a bull would maim or kill a rider or clown. A real family event. (Honestly, human nature is an interesting thing: I think I speak for more than myself judging by the sounds of the crowd when I write that the emost exciting parts of the event were when the bull was on the loose and there was a real possibility of someone getting hurt. Of course, neither I nor anyone else wanted anyone to actually get hurt, but the near misses were terrifically exciting.)

In other news, we have a dog! (Tara doesn't know so, shhhh!) His name is currently Henrietta Jr. He has posted himself in our yard now since Friday, sleeping on a lounge chair and hanging by the door all day. He is not allowed in the house. But he seems very much to have adopted us. He is a beaten up looking guy, but very tranquilo. See this video of him.