Tuesday, October 03, 2006


Feria de Mataderos

Oh my God. I am in love with gauchos.

Every Sunday, about an hour's bus ride northeast of Buenos Aires, there is a traditional gaucho market. Booths are set up where vendors sell everything from crafts to food and drink. There are the traditional folklore dancers and tango singers in which the public (not many gringos at all) is encouraged to join.

We spent the first part of the day walking through the tents sampling wines, cheeses, olives, and dulce de leche (if I leave Argentina being able to eat meat again, then I am hoping for the same with dulce de leche). After we finished our lunch, we were on our way to the ring races. And here is where I fell in love. Ring races, known as carreras de sortijas, is a competitive sport in which the gaucho rides his horse at full speed under a post to snag a ring the size of a large coin with a spear the size of a ballpoint pen. There were about 7 or 8 men participating in the sport, the youngest the age of 6 and the oldest seemed to be in his sixties. This particular race was held on an urban street with cars parked on either side, and sand spread on the ground. There were a great deal of spectators in a single file line on both sides of the street. After about 30 minutes of watching the gauchos and of being in utter amazement that this was even possible, the most horrifying and yet exciting thing happened. A gaucho, riding full speed, was almost to the ring, when his horse spooked and bucked him off. The crowd gasped and watched, stunned, as the horse went careening into the crowd opposite the side I was on. The horse then changed direction, and the spectators were literally jumping over parked cars for cover. That is when the gaucho of my dreams saved the day- the people- and the horse. After a few minutes, everyone was calm (including the horse) and the races continued.

Beautiful!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I sure that Judy would love the gauchos and ring races also. You know how she loves her rodeo!