An American in Lima

I’ve been away from An American in Lima for a little while (understatement) but thanks to my friend Levi Novey, aka Mr Green HuffPost, I’m getting a bigtime nudge to return to blogging. Which I do love doing, by the way.
Levi let me hijack his column today to guest rant about bullfighting (The Twisted Temptations [...]

[Read more →]

Ten-year-old Michelito waves a bloody sword to crowd after his drawn-out debacle in the Acho bullring last November; photo c. Jorge Vera 2008

November 29’s corrida marked the penultimate bullfight of the Señor de los Milagros festival, held in Lima’s historic Plaza de Acho bullring.
The last day to see bullfighting in Peru’s capital is December 6, next Sunday. (Ticket information [...]

[Read more →]

Can you say attitude?
This Spanish torero fought at Plaza de Acho last November. He was a show stopper who would do anything to please the crowd — even throw off his shoes and kneel in the sand before the bull.

[Read more →]

Animal-rights protestor Jessica Santilla, demonstration at Plaza San Martin, Lima, Peru, Nov. 2008 / photo c. Jorge Vera

El Fotografo and I met this protestor at an antitaurino (anti-bullfighting) rally held on the opening day of the Plaza de Acho bullfights, last November.
Jessica Santillan is 20 years old, a student and an ardent vegan. Unlike many of the antitaurinos [...]

[Read more →]

Peruvian bullfighter Fernando Roca Rey, Acho stadium, Lima, Nov. 2, 2008; photo c. Jorge Vera

My news feature on bullfighting in Peru appears on the front page of today’s Miami Herald (”Many protest bullfighting in Peru“), with photos by El Fotografo. The Herald edited the story and retitled it to put more emphasis on the antitaurinos (bullfighting protestors) than I [...]

[Read more →]

Spanish bullfighter Jose Uceda Leal before his first corrida at Plaza de Acho, Lima, Nov. 1, 2008: , photo c. Jorge Vera 2008

Born and trained in Madrid, José Igacio Uceda Leal ranks among the top toreros in Spain. Tall and slender, the 31-year-old bullfighter moves in the ring with an elegant, commanding presence. When he’s not dancing with [...]

[Read more →]

19-year-old Peruvian bullfighter Milagros Sanchez kneels in the sands of Acho, Nov. 1, 2008; photo copyright Jorge Vera 2008

This year’s Señor de los Milagros (Lord of the Miracles) bullfight festival (Nov. 1 – 23), held in the historic Plaza de Acho bullring, began in a rather unorthodox way.
(1) One minute prior to the start of the Nov. 1 [...]

[Read more →]

Public outrage over animal cruelty in bullfighting is mounting in Lima, home to the famed Senor de los Milagros bullfighting festival (Nov. 2 – 23, 2008). The festival takes place in Plaza de Acho, the oldest bullring in the Americas and the second-oldest in the world.  

Say hello to my little friend: Anti-bullfighting posters in [...]

[Read more →]

Sand leveller Carlos Echevarria, Plaza de Acho, Lima; photo c. Jorge Vera 2008

 Carlos Echevarria has been leveling the arena at Lima’s Plaza de Acho bullring for 35 years. It is his job to cart in fresh sand, spread it over the 60-meter-wide arena and pack it into a firm, even surface.
Then a pair of workers uses a rope and spike to draw [...]

[Read more →]

“There’s no way to be a great matador and not get gored.”
That’s what Bob Simon of 60 Minutes drew from his experiences while reporting on bullfighters in Spain, and it’s an ethos shared by most professional matadors. (Click here to read about Simon’s getting gored himself while researching his story.) 
Horrendous groin accidents are part of [...]

[Read more →]

Matador David Galan, who stars in the Nov. 2 corrida

Raging bulls, elaborate torture rituals, hot sun and sand, seriously handsome guys in skin-tight outfits skewering animals through the aeorta: Lima’s Feria de Acho bullfight season (Nov. 2 – 23, 2008) showcases raw, in-your-face Spanish-style bullfighting, and the Peruvian crowds love it.

Spanish matador Uceda Leal, of Madrid, who fights in the first Acho corrida, [...]

[Read more →]

Back in the United States, tension and uncertainty are mounting to excruciating levels as November 4 nears. One guy will win, one guy will lose, and the specters of voting improprieties and riot police haunt many Americans’ visions of what might happen on Election Day 2008.
Hopefully the presidential candidates’ “duel to the death” will be [...]

[Read more →]

After our encounter with Peru’s famous child matador yesterday morning, El Híjo and I hunted down a YouTube video of 10-year-old “El Andi” at the 2008 Las Palmas fiesta.

Figure 1: Peru’s boy matador Andrés Roca Rey, at in the “Senor de los Milagros” bullfighting festival, in the historic Ancho bullring, in Lima, Nov. 4, 2007, [...]

[Read more →]

The boy in the grey t-shirt swept out his arm and arched his torso in an elegant bow-shape as the “bull” charged within an inch of his hip. Then he pivoted on one foot and flicked the cape at his opponent’s head. The red fabric spun and twirled, daring the sharp, curved horns to come closer.
They were two Limeno kids, [...]

[Read more →]