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Bull Fights and Dinosaurs

Today's family outing took us to the inauguration of a new Dinosaur Park in Arequipa.  We stopped to play awhile before we ventured on to the bull fights.  Yes, bull fights, right here in Arequipa!

The bull fights are an Arequipean tradition, not a Peruvian tradition, so it was important that I experience it before I leave this week.  Instead of having a matador like in Spain, Arequipa puts two bulls together in the ring to fight until one runs away.  It is quite exciting complete with cheering, side bets and trophies. 

This afternoon, there were 11 matches scheduled with the smaller bulls fighting first and the biggest fighting last.  While waiting for their match, the bulls were just chained in a field near the arena.  You could get quite close to them - even touch them if you were brave enough.  As you can see in the pictures, they were not to be played with!  They all had metal contraptions over their horns (which looked like they had been sharpened) and were chained to the ground, but even then, it didn't feel very safe around them. 

The bulls would enter the ring from opposite corners and meet in the middle.  The owners would wave at the bulls to get them to start fighting.  The bulls would paw with their front hoofs and lower their heads in preparation for the charge and fight.  They would lock horns and begin to push each other around.  It was quite a sight to watch such weight being pushed around!  They would push and push until one backed off and ran away.  The bulls did not get hurt at all, so the whole event was very humane.

People were cheering on their favorite bull!  And after the match, the winner was paraded around the ring for all the patrons to see and congratulate.

Their were lots of places to grab something to eat around the arena.  Cuy, known by us as guinea pig, is a popular bull fighting dish.  So, in the back area, there were lots of cages of guinea pigs and people getting them ready for frying.  They cleaned, gutted and then hung them up for you to choose the one you wanted for dinner.  Yuck!  We opted for the chicken, thank goodness.   

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