I received a surprise phone call one Sunday evening from the Director of the Peace Corps in Nicaragua and she was visiting the Island with her daughter and her daughter’s friend and invited myself and another volunteer close by out to a local town’s party. Each month one of the nearby towns is responsible for hosting the parties every weekend for that month. These parties often include: a rodeo where often drunk men try to ride very angry bulls; a DJ with an unnecessary amount of speakers and lights gets people dancing; restaurant stands all cooking the same food – fried chicken or carne asada; staggeringly drunk people; and occasionally cock fighting.
We watched the rodeo for about an hour or two while men had their go at riding the bulls (I may give it a go within my two years here, although it does look quite scary and sometimes painful) and the drunkest of men picked fights in the ring. Soon I found myself watching my first cock fight and now know far more than I ever thought I’d know about it. I found out my host father participates in these fights every Sunday at the parties and watched him in action.
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| Fun for all ages |
Firstly, it costs a staggering 3000 cordobas ($150) which is probably the equivalent of around $1000 or $2000 given the economy and all that just to have your Gallo fight. All Gallos are left handed, so a small razor claw between 1/8 and ¼ of an inch are attached to the left foot. 2 roosters enter and 1 rooster – the victor – leaves. It is very similar to a boxing match, so when the roosters stop fighting over being tired or hurt, they take a 20 second break while the ‘coach’ mouths the rooster’s heads and breathe into the rooster’s mouths to give them more air. The ‘coaches’ also use their tongue to clean off the eyes and get blood all in their mouths. Not the most hygienic of sports.
In the end, after 20 minutes one is supposed to be alive and the other clawed to death. The match I saw ended in a tie where both roosters were bloodied barely alive, but breathing nonetheless. Everyone recieved his or her money back and the next fight began preparing. All in all, each fight takes about one hour from deciding the length of the razor claw to attaching it to getting the roosters in attack mode then to the 20 minutes battle.
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| Attaching the 1/8 to 1/4 inch razor sharp claws |
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| Action |
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| Some mouth to mouth on the rooster |
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| I'm also bringing this truck home with me |
I received a surprise phone call one Sunday evening from the Director of the Peace Corps in Nicaragua and she was visiting the Island with her daughter and her daughter’s friend and invited myself and another volunteer close by out to a local town’s party. Each month one of the nearby towns is responsible for hosting the parties every weekend for that month. These parties often include: a rodeo where often drunk men try to ride very angry bulls; a DJ with an unnecessary amount of speakers and lights gets people dancing; restaurant stands all cooking the same food – fried chicken or carne asada; staggeringly drunk people; and occasionally cock fighting. 
We watched the rodeo for about an hour or two while men had their go at riding the bulls (I may give it a go within my two years here, although it does look quite scary and sometimes painful) and the drunkest of men picked fights in the ring. Soon I found myself watching my first cock fight and now know far more than I ever thought I’d know about it. I found out my host father participates in these fights every Sunday at the parties and watched him in action. 
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