So this past Tuesday I finally got a chance to check out the local soccer scene in Rincon. I remember seeing some people playing here at the community sports complex while driving by on my previous visit back in November so I took my boots with me and drove on down. I got there around 7 PM and there were tons of people walking around the track, which was encouraging to me until I thought about all the other people across the island who were probably stuck in Burger King drive thru windows at the same time. Inside the track there were a couple of youth teams practicing. I did spot one guy who looked like an adult with a Barcelona jersey on who was lacing up his shoes. Turns out his name is Angelo and he is a Cuban who has been living in Miami Beach for the past 16 years working as a photographer. He tells me that more adults should be coming out later so we just shoot the breeze and kick a ball back and forth to warm up. Turns out, he also decided to move down to Rincon for a while, a year in his case, after becoming burnt out on Miami, the scene, the drugs, etc... he's actually 44 years old and although he seems a little out of shape I could tell from the way he could use both feet and the technique he had that he knew how to play. He went on to tell me that when he was growing up in Cuba, soccer was his sport - apparently under Castro, sports are very highly encouraged and developed and every high school student has to have at least one or two sports in which they specialize. What's also interesting about Angelo is how he came to South Florida - by raft! He came back in 1991 and told me that the journey took almost 5 days. Wow.
Anyways, at around 8PM some more adults show up, and they are an interesting crew ranging in age from mid 20's to early 40's so I felt like I was right in the median. There were about 10 of us when we began to play and the people were from all over: Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Mexico even a Dominican, but I am pretty sure there was not a single Puerto Rican playing!!! Was it like that for you too Jean-Claude when you played over here in San Juan? I imagine so. It was fun playing with the guys and they all seemed friendly and reminded me to come out when they play on Tues/Thur nights as well as on Sunday when they play out at the old Ramey Air Force base in Aguadilla (site of the current Aguadilla airport). Unfortunately, my shoulder was killing me after the soccer game, which was much to my chagrin. I already had decided to give up the surfing for a while, so I figured soccer would use my legs and not cause any further shoulder pain.. but I was wrong, I guess the fast running motion caused a lot of friction up there as well, so I'm going to have to put the soccer on hold as well. Gulp.
Although facing the fact that I couldn't do any of my two favourite recreational activities, I figured I should galvanize my efforts to rest and rehabilitate my shoulder. I've done a lot of stretching, icing and ibuprofen over the last week and the improvement has been significant. I am optimistic that I'll be back in the water within 2 weeks, if not earlier granted I get a bodyboard!
Speaking of the water, it's hard to stay away and even though there is almost no swell filling into the Northwest coast here I decided to drive up to Aguadilla to check out some of the breaks which are right off the North coast. I went to beaches called Crashboat and Wilderness. At Wilderness a.k.a. Wildo, there is just a dirt road and parking area, and lots of trees and high cliffs that rise above you. I sat down and surveyed the small clean waves coming in. And then off in the distance, I noticed large splashes of water occurring in a somewhat regular pattern. As I looked again, I realized that it was a whale out there! It's hard for me to gauge large distances across water, but I'd guess it was about a mile offshore but the amount of spray it produced when jumping out of the water was impressive. About every 20 seconds or so, this whale would rise out of the water, lift both fins horizontally and then splash down with a backside belly flop. I had never seen a whale before in my life, so it was pretty mesmerizing. I was very astonished by both the creature's size and playfulness.
Which brings us to today, Sunday! I have to be honest, I was looking forward to Sunday all week, especially after being so athletically incapacitated for its duration. You see on Sunday, I was going to get my first taste of what the Puerto Ricans call the "Deporte de Caballeros" = The Sport of Gentlemen, and here in Puerto Rico I could do so without fear of criminal prosecution!!! So I headed down to the Gallera Guanina, the neighbourhood Cockfighting Coliseum which is conveniently located just a few blocks from my apartment. I arrived around 2:30PM, about a half hour before the fights started but I wasn't anxious since it gave me more time to soak up the ambience. The place was already buzzing with activity. Mostly, it was older crusty looking men who were chatting among themselves, while pointing at the fight board and looking at the numbered cages where the roosters were kept. There were also younger people there, a lot of kids or grandkids I assume. One sign that caught my attention inside read: "No hable palabras obcenas, hay damas en la gallera." - "Don't use obscene language, there are ladies in the building." And the sign wasn't lying, there was ONE young mother in the building tending to her baby up in the top row of the bleachers. There seemed to be a lot of pride exhibited by the Galleros for their sport, as many of them wore large gold necklaces which had silhouettes of fighting birds, or they wore hats that said "Cock fight" or had belt buckles with roosters on them, etc..
Although the fighting had not yet begun, there was considerable activity in the Armadero/Armory where the Galleros/Cockfighters were prepping their birds. Behind glass, you could see how they would take their bird, have one person, usually a younger kid hold it, while the Gallero uses some pliers to snip off one of the claws. This claw was the one located up higher on the leg in the back region, and here they would affix with tape, rope and glue an artificial claw which looked like a sharpened piece of plastic. Finally the first fight was ready to start. People took their places in the arena, and the prefight environment becomes rather chaotic. Both birds are brought into the arena in sacks, from which they are weighed, they are then removed from the bags and prepped by neutral attendees. And at this time there is a lot of yelling as fans and Galleros place their bets on which bird they think will win. But it's very unregulated and unofficial as no one seems to be recording who is betting on what, it's just guys pointing at each other and nodding. So the birds are placed into holding cells which are then lifted and the fight begins!
To me it just looks like a flurry of feathers as they jump up and ruffle their claws together... this goes on for about 30 seconds and by then it seems like one bird takes the upper hand, jumping higher and pouncing more often than the other. And at this point both birds still look like they are in good condition. But now the bird who has the upperhand seems to start doing a lot more pecking with its beak, mostly aiming at its adversary's long neck. Once one of the birds stops resisting and just lays on the ground, the judge declares the fight over and the Galleros come into the ring and reclaim their birds, the losing bird usually a little bloody while missing a few chunks from its neck and probably much closer to becoming part of someone's next meal of Arroz con pollo.
At this time, a young kid comes out into the arena and picks up some stray feathers and performs some perfunctory cleaning with a sponge and disinfectant. The bettors now come over to each other and settle their scores. I am always kinda shocked when I see people pull wads of cash out of their pockets, especially in such an unluxurious setting. I would imagine that disagreements and skirmishes would be somewhat common at this time as well. So I stuck around for 3 more fights and realized that it is always pretty much the same and I really wasn't getting into it that much. The owners of the birds get very animated though while their birds are fighting; yelling and clapping and making strange animal noises too. Them and the bettors have a lot at stake I suppose, but I don't. In retrospect, I didn't find it super unpleasant but definitely nothing I care to watch again either. The only similar event I have been to I would say is a bullfight in Sevilla. Now while there is way more pageantry, human skill and elegance on display in a bullfight, it is also much more bloody and gorey.
Sorry about the poor quality of the cockfighting pics, seems my battery was running low. Prepping the arena for the next bout.
The birds in action.
A convoy of about 20 cop cars passed me in Aguadilla so I took a picture. Cop cars down here always drive around with their lights on, which initially made paranoid types like me shudder in anticipation of getting yet another ticket!! Wonder what these guys were up to though, on their way to stop an armed robbery? I think it's more likely they were giving J. Lo an escort to an emergency evening visit to her hairdresser.
And the top pic, yeah, it's another sunset, I know, this time taken from a rest area on an Aguadilla cliff.
1 comment:
Did I miss the whales? I'm confused.
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