Wrestling the World

On Monday it’s someone who doesn’t like what you write. On Tuesday it’s the washing machine that won’t stop leaking. On Wednesday it’s a dryer that has no vent and Thursday… well let’s just move onto Friday.

Which is exactly what it is and for most that means the weekend is coming soon and so is a break. Well, not for me. I’ll be running around tables.

But now I’ve got the chance to show you a photo for Friday: Cholita wresting in Bolivia. La Paz to be exact. Have you ever seen women wrestling?

Ok besides a bar brawl! How about women with their hair braided, in full skirts and men dressed as skeletons? Yeah it’s like a pajama party with outfits. It’s the WWF with women.

Even better? Sitting miles above the highest capital in the world, this wrestling ring is surrounded by both locals and tourists throwing popcorn and heckling the wrestlers!

Apparently the cholita wrestling is a time-honoured tradition in town and it’s the place to be! So make sure you enjoy your Friday and find yourself in Bolivia….La Paz to be exact soon.

You don’t get it.

Cup Match Colours

Nobody watches the game.

“But I like cricket. And I’ve talked to others who say that the game is where many Bermudians made their careers.”

“Yeah well ok you can watch the game. I’m not going to. I never do.”

Ahh…the conversation between a Bermudian and a first-timer. A Cup Match first-timer. There really is no way to prepare them for this time of year. What time of year?

The Cup Match time of year. I missed it last year and believe I was somewhere in Laos. When I am on the island, though, there is always a very set schedule of events not to be messed with. And that’s the way for most Bermudians.

Try explaining that to the new – buy (Bermudian for guy, boy, mate). No, Thursday we do not watch Cricket all day. We have the fishing tournament. Friday? Ok, fine you can watch it on Friday, but I go out in the boat (if I can find one). And Sunday is the Non-Mariner’s race.

No we don’t actually watch that either. That is a day for hanging out on boats with the premise of this race for vessels not suited for water….on water.

It’s tradition much like our friends visiting from Boston every year for the past 20 for this Bermudian-only festival/holiday. But that must get boring Robyn? Don’t say that about my friends. Oh you mean doing the same thing every year. Well actually it doesn’t. It’s always a good time with good food, weather and friends.

But this tradition is weird for those on the outside. Hence the first-timer’s response to Bermuda’s annual holiday.

Cup Match, however, is not the weirdest festival out there. Take for example the jumping of the babies!

Every June 11 to the 15th since 1620, Castrillo de Murcia in Spain has held a baby jumping festival. Grown men are dressed like the devil and jump (hopefully missing) the babies to celebrate Corpus Christi.

Then there is…..Cheese Rolling. Count on the British to throw a roll of cheese down a hill in Gloucestershire on May 25th and people actually chase after it. Bring that to me on some crackers please!

Fancy a mud bath? Are you going to be in South Korea in July next year? Well try the Boryeong Mud Festival now attracts more than a million visitors to the South Korean city and started in 1998.

Ahhh or there is always the chance to watch camels wrestle. That is if you’re in Selcuk, Turkey in January. Watch these animals head butt each other. No thank you, but I guess that’s what this post is about – the weird festivals of the world.

Those Finns know how to carry it off. Well their wives anyway. This July 4 while the Americans celebrate their independence women in Finland were carried-off hoping to win their man his weight in beer. That is if they can move fast enough.

Monkey statue in Lopburi, Thailand

Have you lost your appetite yet? Maybe you will after you see the Monkey Buffet Festival in Lopburi, Thailand.

These 600 hairy creatures dine on more than two tonnes of grilled sausage, fresh fruit, ice cream and other treats. The locals see it as a thank you to the monkeys which inhabit the village and bring thousands of tourists their each year.

And do they? Yep. I went to this town to see the monkeys. If the monkeys hadn’t been there….well I would have been more disappointed than I already was.

Adding to the tiny and tedious town was the fact that me and my two travel buddies, last year, were trapped there. Trains went on strike and though they kept telling us the trains were coming….they didn’t.

Ahh Lopburi. I’m glad you’re behind me and now….on to the game! Bring on Cup Match.