One of the great things about living in Puerto Rico and Rincón specifically is that it is just overflowing with creative, talented and fun-loving people. Britton has been playing bass and guitar for over 20 years and so he was invited to come jam music with some friends. I tagged along just to watch.
Britton, Mark and Cassie
Well, over time one thing led to another. I began tapping and clapping, then chiming in with a tambourine or maracas and then was handed the mic and started singing and then writing songs! Here’s one of the songs I wrote. An original that we put together as a band, it’s called ApoCalypso: Zombies in Paradise. It’s still in its infancy as we make some adjustments and try to tighten up the timing and changes, but it’s coming together. Playing music has been such a fun, creative outlet.
Gabe, Chris, Kevin. Not pictured but present is the drummer Rob
The other day we had an ambulance come down the drive to our house. We are basically at the end of a calle sin salida (dead end road) with only one other house slightly lower and so only very rarely do we have anyone drive past. Even more so, there is a pretty major little hill just as you reach our property. Not even the ice cream truck dares to take this incline for fear of not getting back up. Well, the ambulance wasn’t quite as smart. Thankfully, they weren’t actually on an emergency call and just happened to be lost. (Often people take private ambulance rides for doctors appointments and things; it’s a different type of service than what we northerners normally think.) Still it was pretty hilarious and a good reminder not to count on the ambulance for speedy service! Check out this video.
They eventually made it up! But it took about 10 minutes
We also have had fun going out. We stopped by the Art Walk this week and watched a little unicycling performance. You never know what you might see!
Unicycles at the Art Walk
Another show we went to recently was a reggae concert at Playa Beach bar (weird name for a bar, I know). This is the bar of Villa Antonio and it’s right on the beach. A great venue for a show. We saw P-Dub and friends again. One of our favorite perennial bands and our friend Mark plays with them so it’s even cooler.
This week Britton put on the last few boards that connected one side of the bridge to the other.
Little Britton, big bridge and huge Royal Palm tree
We have been enjoying going across it, walking on it like a catwalk, swinging our legs over the edge, laying down feet to feet or head to head looking up at the birds, bugs, and iguanas in the trees.
Full length of the bridge
On the catwalk, yah!
It’s not totally done, but it is useable/walkable now. We still need to add some other bolts to it, put on some handrails and about 10 more feet to make the transition onto the bridge feel seamless. Then we need to put in rebar and pour the concrete steps to make the full connection all the way to the cabin.
Britton had to re-do a few of the stair molds because they weren’t regular rise and run
Compared to going down into quebrada and climbing back up, crossing the bridge feels like floating.
Bridge, curving steps and cabin
We love our little cabin hideaway in the woods and this bridge makes it even more fun. We have already started talking about what we can put below it. A tilapia pond? A small waterfall? Koi? Ducks? Tropical water lilies? Or all of the above. There is just so much potential with this property and this bridge is another step to helping us unlock even more.
Yesterday we saw our first official cockfight in Puerto Rico.
Announcement for the tournament
A while ago we had seen an announcement for a torneo de botas de pollo and our friend Papo said he loved cockfights and that we should all go. He said this was a sort of mild version of a cockfight because they put “boots” on their spurs making the fights a little less lethal. This piqued my interest because I sort of already had some opinions about cockfighting without ever seeing it so I wanted to know how close my assumptions were to reality. Having Papo as friend has really opened up a whole different world of Puerto Rico that I’m not sure we would see otherwise.
Cockfighting or pelea de gallo really is THE sport of Puerto Rico. It is also considered a “gentleman’s game” (de caballeros) though there was no problem with women or even children being there (still it was about 30 to 1 male/female). While things are changing a little, judging from the popularity of this event, it is unlikely that this tradition will be leaving the island any time soon.
When we entered the cancha area there was a cacophony of roosters crowing and pounding sounds as people cheered and rooted for their gallo of choice. We noticed two rings. One that was a little larger than the other. There were a lot of roosters but in between, they still had time to play dice.
In between cockfights they played “topos” or dice betting games.
According to Papo, in a botas fight like these, the time limit for fighting is only 3 minutes unlike in a fight with espuelas (spurs) which lasts about 12 minutes or until one of the roosters dies. They keep track of the hits that each of the roosters take in order to determine the winner.
Even with the botas, the roosters were pretty ruthless and needed no encouragement to fight
It was almost like watching a miniature boxing match. When they bring out the roosters they have them “meet” and their neck feathers get all ruffled up. Then they start the clock and they fight non- stop. Not in one match did a rooster back off from the others or run away. Even the roosters in the cages on the ground looked like they were ready to fight. But they were also strangely docile when a human would pick them up. I suppose any bird that started fighting at a human would not last long in this environment.
Having chickens and roosters ourselves I can tell you that roosters do fight and it’s not a hard concept to see where this tradition came from (though our rooster nearly always runs from the other in order to avoid the fight). In the country in times before internet and television it would be something to do. It brings a bit of excitement. There’s people, there’s food, there’s drink, there’s entertainment, there’s gambling.
The cocks are paired up based on weight using this scale
Britton eating a taco picanteand a tiny 8 oz Coors Light
And then there’s what happens to most chickens: food. Pinchos with Papo
I enjoyed looking at all the chickens. There was really one breed of rooster that was preferred over the others. Papo wasn’t sure what it was called. Some of them had single combs, some had rose or buttercup combs but the majority were a reddish color with beautiful orange and green feathering.
Me with one of the larger birds
I really don’t like seeing animals suffer and “forced” to fight like this, but I can sort of understand it (I don’t think I will ever truly). In Mexico I also went to a bullfight and I felt that that was far more cruel because of the human involvement in invoking pain on those huge bulls. I also know that most roosters are killed (discarded) when they are just baby chicks because they are unwanted in egg production. So in a sense, this “sport” gives them a little longer of a life and possibly a little better care than they would receive otherwise.
Trophies to the winners
The losers. Even still with the botas a few of them died and were just tossed out
Up close and personal at a cockfight
I don’t think I would pick up cockfighting as a personal hobby of mine and I certainly felt a little out of place. But I found it extremely interesting from a cultural point of view and I am glad I had the opportunity to see it if only to understand it a little more.
