Riding Lessons

For a full year Scott had been looking forward to participating in the May 1st donkey race hosted in an adjacent community. He had no real intention of winning the competition, but knew that everyone would get a kick out of seeing a white guy trying to race a donkey.

The task of borrowing a beast for the event turned out to be a bigger challenge than originally imagined. Many people felt that their animals, principally used for carrying water to their homes or a harvest back from the fields, were too old to exert themselves in a race. Several of the younger donkeys were either pregnant or had recently given birth and were also unfit for a sprint. After much searching, Scott was able to secure a last-resort loaner donkey from a neighbor and arrange a practice session two days before the race.

Training was scheduled to take place at 4:00 in the afternoon, a time when many people are returning from the fields and taking care of chores close to home. Lucky for Scott, there were dozens of people in the street in order to bear witness to his riding lessons. The young male donkey was already a little worn out from its day’s work, but when Scott swung his leg over its back and placed his weight on the burro, it suddenly regained its energy. It began bucking and braying, doing all it could to rid itself of Scott. After a couple rounds of kicks, it managed to flip Scott forward, over its neck and onto the cobblestone road. Good thing donkeys are short.

As the scene repeated itself over and over, a larger crowd gathered to laugh at Scott’s misfortune. Scott had to admit that the situation was hilarious and joined in the laughter. It was, after all, pretty stinking funny. Unfortunately, the second day’s lessons were a repeat of the first, and meant Scott had to withdraw from the race. But since his goal was to amuse a group of people by making a spectacle of himself aboard a donkey, mission accomplished.

Even without participating in the donkey race, the weeks surrounding May 1st turned out to be very busy for the both of us. In the evenings after work, Scott helped build the structure that housed participants of the May 1st (Labor Day) Fair. I helped the girls group organize a booth selling funguim (a banana, sweet potato and corn flour pastry), brownies, fish fritters and drinks. We also displayed baskets made from pine needles that the girls recently learned to make. In addition, Scott and I helped man the booth for our work assignment with the new National Park. I felt proud of my exhibited photographs that elicited praise from visitors. Scott felt proud of his stealthy ability to sneak away from the stand and help with tasks that he deemed more interesting, such as carving a freshly killed pig, observing blacksmiths making hoe heads, and treating neighbors to snacks at the girls’ booth.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any pics of Scott being bucked from the burro; you have to imagine the scene. But here are some of the other fair highlights.

Jacira, Andira, Rosa, Paula, Lucy and me - part of the girl's cooking group.

 At the Natural Park booth with my friend Gilda.  (See my photos in the background?)

http://www.areasprotegidas.cv/ a work-in-progress

Scott was mesmerized by the blacksmiths and their hoes.

Suzy is about to secure the 2nd place spot for the Agua das Caldeiras rinco team.  You play rinco by whaling a rubber ring at the opposing team so that they're unable to catch it without breaking a finger.

This guy is pretty secure in his sack-racing abilities.

And for good reason, although the guy in stripes has him beat when it comes to form.