Fiestas Patronales

For the entire month of July, Boaco is buzzing with visitors from every corner of Nicaragua to celebrate the “Fiestas Patronales”.  Meaning “Patron Parties”, it is a series of events meant to celebrate Boaco´s patron saint Santiago, but the activities often times seem random and unorganized . . . and in no way related to celebrating the life of a saint. 


The first event I participated in was the “Running of the Bulls”, which I was told would be quite similar to that of the infamous festival in Pamplona, Spain.  I waited in the streets with anticipation, calculating my ability to leap out of harm´s way were a raging bull to charge at me.  Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the bulls are not let loose, but kept safely tied up and dragged through the streets against their will, once in a while being slapped on the behind to invoke some sort of excitement.   The dragging of the bulls lasted about three or four hours, and I suppose it was similar to Pamplona´s world-renowned tradition in that bulls were present. 

The second annual “Feria de Turismo” (Tourism Fair) lasted three days.  Various booths were set up with crafts from local and regional vendors including organic coffees and wines, woven hats and baskets, hand-crafted furniture, and lots of jewelry, including my favorite Che earrings carved out of wood.  There was a stage set up for entertainment and more booths promoting local tourist attractions.  

I also attended a couple of rodeos here, which I imagine are similar to rodeos in the United States, but with ten-fold the amount of drunk people, the majority of which are within the ring.  Also it is not a sport to the Nicas so much as entertainment and hope for a fatal disaster.  I did not witness any deaths, or even any serious injuries, but I did see a lot of drunk people pick fights with each other!

You can´t have a Fiestas Patronales without an Hipica!  As I explained a few months ago in my blog, an Hipica is a parade of horses and an excuse to get drunk on a Sunday afternoon.  Sometimes I think it is more about watching the bolos act a fool than admiring the procession of majestic beasts, but the people of Boaco really get into the spirit of it because there are a lot more honest-to-goodness cowboys here compared to my training town in Carazo.  Lots of pretty costumes and horses, and of course a Toña truck (national beer) with dancing ladies.

The night life in Boaco is usually nothing to write home (or blog) about, but during the month of July every bar, restaurant, and random street booth had some sort of promotion going on.  There were tons of visitors from all corners of Nicaragua and PC volunteers were always in town enjoying the festivities.  In other words I was oh-so-very busy with celebrations and visiting, and not-so-very productive at work because everything was closed.

Spanish words and phrases that have no decent English translation:

papelógrafo (large piece of poster-sized paper)

charla (mini lecture, usually accompanied with papelógrafo)

aldoquín (stones used to cover the streets)

fritanga (fried food - meat, rice, plantain - usually at a stand or table outside)

saco (colorful plastic material used for lots of different things)
bolo (really drunk person)

"muy alegre" (tons and tons of people and noise)