> I can usually tell how much fun I had the night before
by how much fun I'm not having in the morning and Sunday was no exception. As
Saturdays fog lifted from my head ,our plans for the day became more clear. We
were going to Hebers baseball game in the morning. After that Tonio was going
to butcher a pig so he invited us up to his ranch for lunch followed by
horseback riding. And later we were to drive up to Matiguas for the rodeo.
> We picked up Lindsey and Heber in the morning and went just down the street to a little restaurant for breakfast. It didnt really look like a restaurant just a house with a few more tables than usual and a woman cooking at her stove.
>
> After eating we drove out to Hebers game. Baseball here can be compare to our home talent leagues. Each town gets a team together and they schedule games against other towns. Tonio is the financial backer or owner of the team from Muy Muy. Unfortunately this was playoff time and Muy Muy had already been eliminated. Heber also played on the Muy Muy team but was recruited to play for another team through the playoff. Heber is one of the local super jocks. Besides playing shortstop he is also a very good bull rider.
> We could see the other player respected his athletic abilities.
> His teammates were suprised to see an infield ground get by him. The other team however was very quick to throw back in their face that one of their best players had made an error.
> The baseball diamond wasn't much more than a field behind someone's house in the country. Six foot Branches with some chicken wire attached made up the backstop.
> On each team there was about 15 players ranging in age from early 20s to late 30s. In the parking lot there were 10 motorcycles,4 horses and 1 Toyota truck. We joked that maybe the other team all rode there in the back of that truck.
> The quality of play was very good. As good as our home talent or minor leagues in Wisconsin. I enjoyed watching but shade was at a minimum. There were no benches to sit on so we ended up on a dirt mound on the right field side with a branch hanging over for a little cover. We also found out today was going to be a double header. We stayed for most of the first game but since Tonio was already slaughtering a pig for us, we thought we better not be to late for lunch. Heber attempted to leave with us. But his uncle, who also played on the team , convinced him he was to valuable to the team and had to stay.
> We went back into muy Muy Where we met Tonios helper Jackson and followed him up to the ranch. He turn off the road just outside of town onto a dirt path up a hill through a pasture. The path was full of rocks and big ruts. We could feel our rented SUV bottom out on some of the boulders. It must have been close to two miles through the fields to Tonios ranch house. The house was very rustic almost barn or stable like. Dirt floor kitchen, worn ,weathered wood and paint. Like everywhere in Nicaragua there was debris. Plastic stuck hanging on the fences and weeds. Pieces laying in the grass yard around the house. Maybe an old shirt or shoe or bottle. We walk up the four steps to the huge front porch. Sorry three steps. The top step had broke and was laying on the third step. "Careful that last step's a doozy. "The view from the porch was awesome. It overlooked the entire town and we could see mountains all around for miles. The weather was perfect. It may have been 90 F but we were shaded on the porch a the breeze was just right. We enjoyed a few beers before lunch was ready and wrestled our way through some language impeded conversation. It was very nice and as I sat there relaxing I understood why no one had bothered to fix the step yet. Lunch consisted of grilled pork with a salad on the side. I don't know what they season their meat with but it was delicious.
> There had been four horses tied to the porch since we arrived. Tonio said ,once our lunch settled ,we would go for a horse ride around some of his property. As we saddled up,Rachel's horse got alittle out of control. Nothing to worry about, Tonio jumped up on the back of her horse with her and led the way. He seemed to have alittle crush on Rachel and I had a feeling this was all part of his plan. We rode down the hill to a fenced in stable area. Inside has was a foal Tonio said was only three days old. Once we opened the gate it was obvious Lindsey was riding the mother. They were happy to be reunited and the foul began nursing immediately. We started back up a different side of the hill with baby following. This time we rode through the pasture where the bulls for the rodeo were grazing. Theses animals were big and beautiful. And so was the landscape around us. Green hillsides surround by mountainous scenery. When we got back to the house it was time to start planning our trip to the rodeo. Heber had texted Lindsey that he had finished his double header and was going home to change. We drove down the rutty path back to Muy Muy to pick up Heber. Tonio , Jackson and another hired hand met us at Cafe Angel and we followed them to Matiguas. Most of the time people in Nicaragua are perfectly happy doing nothing. When they do , there is no hurry. That is until they get in an automobile. The roads to the rodeo in Matiguas were rough and there was no keeping up with Tonio. I dont really know how they can go so fast because there were times when we bounced so hard our heads hit the roof of the car. Arriving at the rodeo was like arriving at a county fair . We parked in a grass lot. There were tents and food stands and grand stands around the arena. There were a lot of people standing around, mingling ,eating and drinking along the gravel road to the arena entrance . We purchased our tickets and walked under the stands onto the walk path around the bull pen fence.
> We picked up Lindsey and Heber in the morning and went just down the street to a little restaurant for breakfast. It didnt really look like a restaurant just a house with a few more tables than usual and a woman cooking at her stove.
>
> After eating we drove out to Hebers game. Baseball here can be compare to our home talent leagues. Each town gets a team together and they schedule games against other towns. Tonio is the financial backer or owner of the team from Muy Muy. Unfortunately this was playoff time and Muy Muy had already been eliminated. Heber also played on the Muy Muy team but was recruited to play for another team through the playoff. Heber is one of the local super jocks. Besides playing shortstop he is also a very good bull rider.
> We could see the other player respected his athletic abilities.
> His teammates were suprised to see an infield ground get by him. The other team however was very quick to throw back in their face that one of their best players had made an error.
> The baseball diamond wasn't much more than a field behind someone's house in the country. Six foot Branches with some chicken wire attached made up the backstop.
> On each team there was about 15 players ranging in age from early 20s to late 30s. In the parking lot there were 10 motorcycles,4 horses and 1 Toyota truck. We joked that maybe the other team all rode there in the back of that truck.
> The quality of play was very good. As good as our home talent or minor leagues in Wisconsin. I enjoyed watching but shade was at a minimum. There were no benches to sit on so we ended up on a dirt mound on the right field side with a branch hanging over for a little cover. We also found out today was going to be a double header. We stayed for most of the first game but since Tonio was already slaughtering a pig for us, we thought we better not be to late for lunch. Heber attempted to leave with us. But his uncle, who also played on the team , convinced him he was to valuable to the team and had to stay.
> We went back into muy Muy Where we met Tonios helper Jackson and followed him up to the ranch. He turn off the road just outside of town onto a dirt path up a hill through a pasture. The path was full of rocks and big ruts. We could feel our rented SUV bottom out on some of the boulders. It must have been close to two miles through the fields to Tonios ranch house. The house was very rustic almost barn or stable like. Dirt floor kitchen, worn ,weathered wood and paint. Like everywhere in Nicaragua there was debris. Plastic stuck hanging on the fences and weeds. Pieces laying in the grass yard around the house. Maybe an old shirt or shoe or bottle. We walk up the four steps to the huge front porch. Sorry three steps. The top step had broke and was laying on the third step. "Careful that last step's a doozy. "The view from the porch was awesome. It overlooked the entire town and we could see mountains all around for miles. The weather was perfect. It may have been 90 F but we were shaded on the porch a the breeze was just right. We enjoyed a few beers before lunch was ready and wrestled our way through some language impeded conversation. It was very nice and as I sat there relaxing I understood why no one had bothered to fix the step yet. Lunch consisted of grilled pork with a salad on the side. I don't know what they season their meat with but it was delicious.
> There had been four horses tied to the porch since we arrived. Tonio said ,once our lunch settled ,we would go for a horse ride around some of his property. As we saddled up,Rachel's horse got alittle out of control. Nothing to worry about, Tonio jumped up on the back of her horse with her and led the way. He seemed to have alittle crush on Rachel and I had a feeling this was all part of his plan. We rode down the hill to a fenced in stable area. Inside has was a foal Tonio said was only three days old. Once we opened the gate it was obvious Lindsey was riding the mother. They were happy to be reunited and the foul began nursing immediately. We started back up a different side of the hill with baby following. This time we rode through the pasture where the bulls for the rodeo were grazing. Theses animals were big and beautiful. And so was the landscape around us. Green hillsides surround by mountainous scenery. When we got back to the house it was time to start planning our trip to the rodeo. Heber had texted Lindsey that he had finished his double header and was going home to change. We drove down the rutty path back to Muy Muy to pick up Heber. Tonio , Jackson and another hired hand met us at Cafe Angel and we followed them to Matiguas. Most of the time people in Nicaragua are perfectly happy doing nothing. When they do , there is no hurry. That is until they get in an automobile. The roads to the rodeo in Matiguas were rough and there was no keeping up with Tonio. I dont really know how they can go so fast because there were times when we bounced so hard our heads hit the roof of the car. Arriving at the rodeo was like arriving at a county fair . We parked in a grass lot. There were tents and food stands and grand stands around the arena. There were a lot of people standing around, mingling ,eating and drinking along the gravel road to the arena entrance . We purchased our tickets and walked under the stands onto the walk path around the bull pen fence.
Above the stands was a stage like platform with a
mariachi band playing very loud and lively the entire time we were there. The
atmosphere inside was a little rowdier . It felt like a cross between a cock
fight and a gladiator event. The wood that the bleacher were
made of was well worn. The tier heights were random. Some were 18 inches ,some
were 2 feet, some were 3 boards wide, some were 4 or 5. We found an open
spot and climbed up to our seats. Inside the ring there were cowboys on horses
ready to lasso any loose bull.
Then the shoot opened. Out came
the bull twisting and kicking and bucking and riding him was a completely
drunk rider. Im talking about wet noodle ,rubber neck ,crash dummy, gumby
drunk. All the riders were wearing helmets with face guards so that was
good but some of them couldn't even stand up after they fell
off. It was interesting watching the cowboys rope the bulls back
into there pens.
Some of the bulls would only buck a couple seconds and quit.
It was one of the cowboys job to entice the bull to start kicking again. He
might wave a red flag in the bulls face or run circles around
him. The hole time with the drunk rider wavering on top ready
to fall off. It was a blast to watch and a total party. Kids were walking
around vending food and picking up empty beer can and there was a lot of
drinking and laughing going on. Tonio assured me that the rodeo in Muy Muy was
much better than here. After all the Muy Muy rodeo had Tonios bulls and Heber
riding them. We watched for a couple hours and mingled with a few curious
locals. Rachel spend some time taking pictures of some of the kids and other
fans in the stands and Lindsey took some videos with Tonios new camera.
We stopped in one of the beer tents on
our way out to the car but it was very loud and crowded. Café Angel
seemed like a much better idea , so we headed back to Muy Muy and
finished the night there. We danced and teased and drank and tried to teach
Jackson English . We all laughed our heads of, funny beyond the language
barrier.
When it was time to leave ,we said our goodbyes
and thanked our new amigos for the wonderful day. We would be leaving for
the airport in the morning and I told Tonio he had made my last day in Nicaragua my
best.
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