Monday, September 25, 2006
Running of the Bulls
Saturday we attended our first Sanmiguelada -- San Miguel's version of Pamplona's running of the bulls. It was impressively strange. Wall-to-wall people, mostly young, mostly drunk, clad in white shirts and red bandanas. The scene reminded us of an insanely large tailgate party. In lieu of running backs and linebackers, we had on one team six 1,000 pound bulls that appeared to be hopped up on amphetamines. The other team largely consisted of well-heeled latinos with good haircuts, tailored clothes and $200 sunglasses. These young daredevils strutted and preened for their girlfriends, but whenever a bull got within fifty yards of them, exhibited an alarming tendency to leap, panic-stricken, up on the guardrails behind which we spectators safely stood. An astounding show of bravery!! A few more foolhardy, drunk and scruffy guys actually ran among the bulls, taunting them with home-made red capes and the ubiquitous bandanas. One American guy trotted ahead of the bulls in a multi-colored chicken outfit -- no kidding! Most of the time the bulls ignored these crazies, or merely swatted at them in annoyance. Every once in awhile, however, one would get surprisingly pissed off and a would-be toreador ended up being carted off by the waiting ambulance crews. Amazingly, no one was killed or seriously maimed... to best of our knowledge. After about a half hour of this madness, most of the bulls were out of steam and ready for the corral. (Obviously bulls aren't bred for stamina.) I guess the bull runners started getting bored too 'cause as we were heading back into the restaurant for another sangria, we heard a quick series of little pops that reminded us of Jack Ruby in Dallas. Sure enough a couple of drunk guys were engaged in a shoot-out just up the street from us in plain view of the TV cameras. It was all over before we had a chance to duck. By the time we glanced up at the TV screen, paramedics were loading the guys into yet another ambulance like balky sacks of grain. Soon thereafter, the bull wranglers appeared to have roped and loaded the bulls into a transport truck, at which time we decided we'd had enough fun for one morning and started to head home. We made it as far as the town square before we discovered a) the barricades were still up, blocking all exit from what had been the "track", and b) one bull was apparently still loose. We barely had time to think, "Holy shit!" before a terrified mob of kids stampeded in our direction, flattening us against one of the barricades. Thankfully, we stayed on our feet and the exhausted bull quickly lost interest in the chase. From our scary vantage point, we observed this tidal mass of drunken humanity ebb and flow several more times before officials finally dispatched the bull and began removing the barricades. Hearts pumping and dripping sweat, Karen and I threw ouselves into the nearest sports bar, ordered cold beers and calmly watched Cal pummel Arizona State.
# posted by goots @ 3:50 PM 
