Back in Colorado February was by far my least favorite month. The novelty of snow and cold had long since worn off, the holidays and the excitement they bring were over and cabin fever began to set in big time. It was cold and dark and everything was just waiting…waiting for spring and life again. I would often read the seed catalogs and long for spring and gardening, being outside, spending time with friends and just enjoying the beautiful warm days of summer.
Playing outside in the winter. Two turkeys at a time! Just like pelicans! 🙂
But now, we basically live an endless summer. I don’t even really think about those cold Colorado days much anymore except what I hear from my friends and family. Nowadays it’s flipflops and shorts year round. It does get a bit “chilly” here now that we are acclimated. I snuggle with a small blanket at night now and I like the slightly warmed water in the shower. But all the doors and windows are open. There are no heaters or humidifiers and it just feels perfect. It’s the type of weather you don’t even really notice because you are just so comfortable in your own skin. I know some people really like the changing of the seasons and the cold, but for me, I couldn’t be happier in always warm weather. I guess it’s sort of like Mondays now. I used to dread Mondays because I loved the weekends so much, now Mondays are just another lovely day. Every day here is a Saturday in summer!
Pool parties in February -with my wonderful friend Megan
Things are very much still alive here! There is less rain in February so the yard work diminishes and while some of the grasses turn brown waiting for water, for some plants like these heliconias, it is their time to shine! The whales are visiting Rincón and other animals like the turkeys and chickens are preparing for their spring babies.
Explosion of color in these heliconias -thanks to starts from our friends Missy and Ben
What a contrast to the grey, dark and cold Februarys. I am still so much in love with living here that I feel more alive and vibrant myself every day.
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!
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.
