The Amazing Adventures of Boss Man and the Machete Mobbers!
Chapter VII: Grab Life by the Bulls (video link at the end!)
Boss and the Mobbers sat around their hand made tables as they digested their dinner and conversed about their hometowns. Machete Joe removed himself from the conversation and leaned over to Boss and said “Hey, you feel like riding a bull tomorrow?” An odd and question Boss though, thinking it was a word play joke of some sort as Machete Joe was fond of jesting.
“Like a real bull?” Boss asked.
“Well hell yeah. There is a rodeo out in the valley of El Mamoni tomorrow.” Said Machete Joe.
“Sounds like one hell of a time, if we can actually ride one that would be crazy! Im down for sure.” Boss responded.
The following morning Boss and four Mobbers hiked out of their valley into San Miguel. It did not take long for them to catch a ride heading into the valley of Mamoni as it was a special event for the locals. Sitting in the back of a pickup truck they were hauled over large steep hills taking them farther and farther into countryside. The truck would wave back and forth on the muddy road, but the wait Boss and the Mobbers added aided the velocity of the vehicle.
They arrived where cars and a large crowd comprised around a cow corral, a bar, and stand where they were cooking chickens and beef. There was two main sports at this rodeo; one where a man would ride a horse next to a cow, then grab its tail and pull it sideways. If the cow fell over, they were successful. In the second sport there would be a group of men who would run after a cow, getting it in a head lock and pulling on its tail until one man could jump on the cow backwards and hold on to its tail until they were flung off.
Boss and the Mobbers were the only gringos (white people) there, which turned out to be an advantage. In no time they were approached by on of the men in charge who had bought them all a beer. He asked Boss and the Mobbers if they had planned to ride a bull, almost jokingly.
“Ya! At some point today.” Boss said.
“Yeah?! Ok ok, right now!” the man responded excitedly.
He pulled Boss through the gate and they walked up to where the cows where being released into the pen. They picked out the beast in which Boss would ride and began to tie a rope around its torso. He was a little nerves but adrenaline overcame any doubts of abandoning the opportunity.
Boss climbed up the release gate and mounted the beast. They told him to have both hands under the rope, as is the technique in this area. In the middle of a heart beet the gate was opened and Boss’s heart skipped, but he held on tight. The bull gave a couple of kicks then ran straight down the pen. Boss started slipping on the side of the beast, feeling its legs kicking widely behind him, and was thrown off half way down the pen.
He stood up, hands straight in the air and gave a smile with dirt plastered amongst his teeth. The crowd went wild and cheered. He jogged back to the side of the pen where he was met by hand shakes and high fives from the crowd. “Gringo loco!” they shouted, as he was handed shots of liquor.
He lasted the longest on the beast as no other Panamanians road directly on a bull from the release gate. Boss and the Mobbers partook in the other two sports as well, showing the locals that gringos were as wild as them.
Night fell and the party began. Traditional music on one side of the field, and cars with lights pumping loud music on the other side. Great conversations were shared between Boss, the Mobbers and the local crowd. This day was an adventure that Boss Man would not soon forget.
LINK
Stay tuned for another exciting chapter of…
The Amazing Adventures of Boss Man and the Machete Mobbers