Halloween in Rincón kicks off the tourist season. This year Halloween fell on a Saturday and so it was even more festive. We went out to El Bohio, Calypso and Shipwreck and had a great time. Tamboo is also a great place to go on Halloween, but it is so packed that they actually shut down some of the roads in Puntas, and so we didn’t want to mess with that level of crowds.
It’s pretty cool to see all the excited people coming down to party and vacation in Rincón. Everyone is gearing up for “season.” The tourists are happy to be here and the locals are happy to have the extra influx of money. The only downside is that the roads get more clogged and some people party just a little too hard. There is a definite increase in energy this time of year. And it was fun to be a part of the kick-off on Halloween.
I went in a punny costume: an NSA Bug
Britton wore the perennial wig -It’s interesting how people treat him differently with hair!
One of my favorite costumes of the night. My friend Kari went as Carrie!
Dancing at Shipwreck’s
Fun with friends Theresa and the Kershes at Shipwreck’s
Halloween is definitely a “gringo” custom, and it is one that they do very well here for adults in Rincón. I love it!
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.
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.
The month of September was sort of a waiting month. In order to put on the siding (we found chanfles instead of T-111) we needed the windows. But the windows were supposed to take about 4 weeks to finish. So in the meantime, we had started on the footbridge. But our friend Walde could only work weekends. Basically we had a lot of mini-fires going just waiting to get bigger. We still always have plenty to do, however, and yard maintenance is pretty much front and center this time of year.
Britton and the turkeys under the large avocado tree in the “garden area”
But now the windows are here! It actually took a little less time than they estimated. Windows are a different sort of bird in Puerto Rico than in the states. In the states there are generally egress rules whereby you must be able to escape out of the windows in case of a fire or other emergency.
Here, that must not be the case, because it is very difficult to find any window that you could climb through. The vast majority of windows are Miami shutter style which works for ventilation, but they block out the view. Or you can get a picture window, but they can’t open. Well, we wanted good airflow as well as visibility, so we went with larger clear glass louvres. A good compromise I think given the options.
When the windows arrived we loaded them into the truck and then brought them to the cabin
The other difference with windows is that they are almost always custom made by an aluminum works type place. We learned that trick when we got our screen doors for the cabana. They are usually cheaper than what you can find in a big box store (like Home Depot) and they will fit perfectly! Plus it helps out local businesses.
Britton installing windows at the cabin
The bridge is the other big project that is moving right along. Since Britton only has Waldemar’s help one or two days a week, we made a big decision to get a cement mixer. To ligar cemento we would need to hire at least 2 other guys for at least 3-4 days to fill in the zapatones and the mini-columns, so we figured that even with this job it will pay off and then we can make cement stuff all over the property all by ourselves.
Britton and la máquina
We’ve decided to name this bridge Tito. You know, for Tito Puente! 🙂 Here’s one of our favorite songs of his (though most will know it as a Santana song).
We are becoming pretty good friends with these guys that have been helping us on various projects and planning lots of paseos with them. On Saturdays after the work is through, Papo comes over with a bunch of food and we set up a little mini-bar and tail-gate from it. We listen to bachata from his truck with the doors open, open up some coconuts and drink coconut water with whiskey and eat pollo, yuca, arroz con gandules and dance a little in the middle of the yard. Life is fun. We’re getting stuff done, but we’re enjoying it along the way.
Halloween at Calypso
