El Toreo De Tijuana
Once we exhausted all tourist possibilities in San Diego such as The Zoo, Gaslamp, Old Town and Seaport Village there was only one place left to explore…
South of the Border in Tijuana.
We crossed the borderline with much enthusiasm and hit the major Gringo attractions before noon. We had a couple margaritas, been serenaded and crooned by more than a few Mariachi bands… we'd been taken advantage of by retailers and brokers of overpriced souvenirs and merchandise very likely not made in Mexico. We did everything short of getting our Polaroid taken on a donkey.
And that’s when we saw the billboard with all it’s color and inviting-ness.. An advertisement for Bull Fights at the Plaza in downtown Tijuana. It involved leaving the other tourists behind, along with the gratuitously expensive margaritas and getting in cab. It involved a leap of faith and a little bravery…the kind of faith and bravery that you find at the bottom of your fourth margarita glass.
We pulled up to the bullring and the concerned cabbie reluctantly let us out. We purchased our ticket in the shaded part of the stands… it cost a couple extra pesos but we were riding first class south of the border. We settled in and before we knew it, vendors were walking through the stands selling ice cold Coronas for 75 cents. They also sold snacks that were either deep fried meat or vegetables with some peppers and salsa on top. We indulged with whatever was offered and it was all delicious. I even bought a Matador hat.
We didn’t know the rules of the Bull Fight, but what started out so beautiful and majestic ended with a dead bull bleeding to death and being pulled out of the ring by a chain hitched to a tractor. It was a little rough and for a minute or two we all sat there with our jaws dropped, pondering our new cultural experience. It was exciting and brutal, but there was nowhere else in Tijuana (or San Diego) where someone was going to continually bring us 75 cent Coronas, so we settled in. Some of us rooted for the Matador, some of us rooted for the Bull.
2 comments:
I was down at the beach a few weeks ago and one of the guys I was with was reading Sports Illustrated's "Danger In Sports" issue. Not sure if this was a new issue or an old one, but the cover was a depiction of one of the worst bull fighting injuries I've ever seen.
(all warnings apply, this is rough!)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/22/julio-aparicio-gored-in-t_n_585941.html
That first image was the Sports Illustrated cover. The matador, one of Spain's most famous, was saved by a surgeon and was actually back in the ring just weeks later.
As for the bull, well, he of course was killed, but at least he got some preemptive revenge.
That'll leave a mark.
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