Less than 9 hours into my vacation in Costa Rica and already I've got stories. It's 12am, I've just got back from a Bull Fight in the town arena, and I have dirt on the bottom on my shoes from running in the ring with about a other hundred Costa Rican's.
We flew into San Jose Areopeurto today at 3pm, a short 50 minute flight from Tegucigalpa (Honduras). Christmas was great at Ken and Sue's house (they run the camp up here, and I teach their kids at the school) and now the second part of the winter vacation was starting, a week in Costa Rica.
We got to the guest house here in town, got settled, and were on our way to the town mall to get supplies around 6, when our taxi passed a Carnival and free concert going on in the city. We ditched our plans and went wandering around the gleaming lights and party party instead.
Funny enough, the amusment park, filled with rides identical to those you'd see in Canada at the exhibition, also have a good sized stadium in it. I went to check out what people were lining up for. After some broken spanish, a lot of sign language, 5000 colones (local money $10) and chatting in line with a nice local family, we were sitting on wood benches inside the stadium, surrounded by cheering Costa Rican's, waiting for the Bull fights to begin, wondering what the heck just happened.
First it was these guys singing while the crowd came in. Local pop star Donny Q and his friends or something like that. Guys dressed like matadores with microphones. Then a show of horse riding (not bad okay okay where are the bulls), THEN came the bulls. Bull riders getting kicked off there bulls after a couple seconds, trying to stay on for the prize winning 8 second. Then guys on horses competing to lassoo the bulls and bring them into the coral. All the while more and more local guys where gathering behind 5 foot high wooden fence that around the inner ring. I thought, hey, maybe I can go watch from there...
Then all of a suddend a horn blows and the hundred of so guys standing behind the fence hop over and run into the center. A bull gets let out and they sprint back to the fence, diving over it as the bull chaces them down. Some of them get hit by the bull, some get trampled on, others just get chased for their lives.
After about 10 mintues of watching I can't take any more of this, I find one of the guards, get permission, hand Katherin and Amanda my wallet and jump down into the dirt ring too. The next round is a couple minutes off, I chat with a local guy named Manuel wearing a ThunderCats T-shirt get the rules down, and the next time they call us in I hop over the fence with him and his brother.
Oh wow. Okay those bulls are fast. You have to keep track of it through all the other people, and keep a good eye on the nearest part of the fence to get too. Some guys are sprinting past the bulls trying to get him to chase them. One guy does and dives behind a fence. Another sprints past, trips, gets run over but miraculously doesn't get hurt... the round keeps going, the bull runs around the edges of the fence towards us and we all cascade over the seconds before the bull gets to us. Awesome.
Next round we get back into the center. Me, Manuel and his brother David get a little closer to the starting gate where the bull comes out, the countdown, the horn, a hundred guys peel off and sprint for the sides as the bull comes tearing out, Manuel shouts that this one is about 600 pounds, and runs like mad. Same as before, diving over walls and then back over after the bull passes us, once I jump over and turn around to see the bull with his head over the fence staring at me. As he backs away he snorts and kicks the fence and I hear the wood splintering. I jump back over as he runs away. A minute or two later boom, some unlucky guy gets hit. He's get's down on the ground and plays dead like your supposed to, but the bull bends his head down, and tosses him around in the dirt with his horns. We all rush over, the bull rushes off and those closest to the guy pick him up and run him across to the first aid booth. Serious injuries stop the bull rushing event for the moment and riders come out to compete to lasoo the bull.
I look up at the stadium and Katherin and Amanda are getting cold in the stands, so I call it a night and climb up the larger wall back into the stands. I waved to the family we chatted with in line, they smiled and shook their heads at me, and we took off.
And now I'm off to bed. A good first night, tomorrow I leave by myself to go south, Saturday I should be starting 3 days climbing and living at the highest peak in Central America, Cerra Chirripo. It should be exciting, and rewarding I hope. I'm here in Costa Rica to find some things, things you can only find alone, in places with epic views, with nature all around you. But I'm conscious that the adventure has already started. Yes some of you can question why people would get into a bull fight with good reasons, but something in me needed that tonight. I'm praying God shows up on this trip, answers some questions, fills my heart with what it needs. I got a piece of that tonight. As I was leaving the stadium Manuel picked up a splintered piece of wood from the fence and handed it to me.. "Something to remember this day, good to meet you my friend." One piece to carry with me to the mountain. Here we go.
