Toro Madness!

Link to video of the Bullfight, Part One
Link to video of the Bullfight, Part Two

Oh, what a day! Let's just start at the beginning. The beginning being Pisco Sours and birthday cake at 8am compliments of Pichin, the hostel owner. He is like a little kid in a 60yr old mans body. Super excited about everything and a little too much in your business, but very nice guy. He organized a trip to the Toro Toro fights. Here, there is no matador. Just two 1,400kg bulls fighting each other. I had never heard of such a thing, so we signed up immediately for the expedition. At first the fight was 30min away, then 1hr, and in the end 2+hr away in a very ugly, dusty place called Majes.

Pichin arranged transport for us and the other hostel folk on a bus that the bull association chartered. So, 6 gringos, 2 judges, a tv station owner, the president of the bull association, and lots of enthusiastic chaps piled in and headed out. I have a great ability to pass out on warm buses and with the aid of my morning pisco this was no exception. Pisco sours are a Peruvian version of a margarita with lime, egg white, sugar, and of course pisco. Quite tasty!

Anyway, we finally arrived in a very dusty Majes. The crowd was ready and eagerly waiting in the stands. Todd and I were anticipating some good street food so we opted out of the s12 ($4) plates of food. For now, it was a liquid diet of beer. We did find some tasty hot dogs, peruvian style of course; bun, 2dogs sliced, tomato, shredded lettuce, little fried potato sticks, and of course ketchup and mayo. All for s3 or about $1. They were quite tasty and filling. So, bellys full and beers in hand, where were the bulls.

There were 11 fights in total. The first match was super anticlimatic as the handlers couldn't get the bulls anywhere close to each other. They eventually just left the ring. I was a little worried at this point that the day was going to be a bust. Round 2 wasn't much better, one bull no showed.

As we waited for round 3, one of the bulls walked right by us with his handler. I finally got to see how large these animals were. As tall as a man and as wide as a car, f'in huge!

Finally, we got a taste of the fun. Two angry bulls, just what we needed. One bull looked more interested in the grass until bull number 2 charged him from the side. Causing him to sidestep into better position; that being face to face.

The power of the two animals was incredible. So was the speed at which my inner country girl exposed itself in the form of woops and hollers of glee. This overall wearin', hootin' gringo was not blending in well today. More beer and bulls please, this was getting good.

The fights continued to be full of excitement even if it took considerable time in between each fight. I don't think it is easy for a 160lb man, maybe two to maneuver a 3,000lb bull. The announcer was funny, shouting "que paso" (What's up) over and over into the microphone when the animals refused to make an appearance. I passed the time by chatting it up with the two 14yr old kids working the beer stand. Good little workers. The heat and the dust of the day were incredible.

After a lot of beer drinking, I finally had to find a bathroom. Now, sometimes it is nicer to squat behind a tree or car then actually use the provided facilities. In this case, they were actually quite nice even if they were bucket flush, a spritz of air freshener before each new client, thoughtful. I did my business quickly and hustled back to the ring, didn't want to miss anything. And yet, I almost missed the best fight of the day.

So, I get back to the group but there is one Mosier man and two bulls missing and a lot of people running. I quickly find out that the bulls are fighting in the parking lot and Todd and the crowd decided to go watch. Now, this ring is obviously not secure nor are the stands super safe. We were warned to run fast in the opposite direction if the bull charged the fence. Okay, good to know.

But now, I found myself running quickly and eagerly in the direction of two fighting bulls, no fences included. And of course, there, front row and center is Todd filming away just feet away from these beasts. It was awesome. The adrenaline was pumping. Pichin kept yelling at us to be careful, ready to run, get back. Well, run we finally did. Hearts skipping with excitement and wonder, as we ducked behind a huge truck. The bull took off between two parked cars. Unfortunately, for the car the bull was a little two wide and took out two side mirrors, a window and left a huge dent in the passenger side door as a reminder that good parking spots are not always what they seem to be. Wow! At this point the bull had no where else to go so he just stood there breathing heavily. The handler had a rope tied around his horns and a group had formed to look in wonder at the massive animal. I took the opportunity to touch him. It was scary.

Now, Todd and I were amped. Adrenaline, lots of beer, and more toros to come. What a killer day. We stayed near the exit and waited to catch more action. We made some friends, chatted it up and toasted with more beer. Pichin had mentioned earlier that it was possible to sit on one of the bulls. Once this was said, I was determined to make it happen, so Todd and I set off in search of a docile bull. Unfortunately, not to be found. We should have gone before they were pumped up from fighting. Hindsight gets us every time. We did try though, but each bull looked more and more scary to me. One handler flat out told us no, the bull was still pissed off.

So instead they invited us into their family photos. Apparently, this pissy bull had done a great job and won the grand trophy. We posed with the fam and the trophy. Smiling proudly, yet wondering if they were actually going to hang the picture of the gringos in the family living room. I complimented the daughter on her families accomplishment and her response was a nonchalant, "we have more at home." Well then, never mind. No live bull riding for me. We wondered back to the bus, disappointed in the circumstance but still pumped about the whole day.

Now, the sun was nearing the horizon and the bulls were finished for the day. Todd bought some cow heart on a skewer from one of the street vendors. Eating it with a smile on his face as he reminisced about the last Peruvian cow heart he ate and yes, how much he enjoyed that one too. It was pretty darn tasty. Back on the bus we headed. I wasn't looking forward to the ride back but we were in for a huge surprise.

The bus was incredibly entertaining.

The tv guy was wasted and decided to hold court for the bus. Ranting about how much his heart loved the gringas (the ladies), kissing our hands, and professing his love. It just got better from there. He decided to take up collections for some pisco. Two bottles of pisco later, one cup, and the bus was a moving party. I danced away in the aisles with him, a tad difficult on a moving bus, but well worth it. I even managed a leg lift.

Peruvians have a uniquely communal way of drinking; one bottle, one cup. One person has the cup and drinks while passing the bottle on to the next recipient. This continues until the bottle is empty. It is a great way to drink in a group. It does take some getting used to and fauxpas are made. I.E. I accidentally drank out of the bottle, oops. But then I caught on and all was well. The guys forgave me as we shared the pisco on our way back to Arequipa. Laughing from our bellies from all the merriment.