Hello and I hope everyone had a great and long 4th of July weekend! We arrived home safely and with no holiday traffic. We've been gone since very early Friday morning (6/30), we left around 4:30 am.

I'd like to share with you our 4th of July weekend as well as getting an idea of what we do before a bloodless bullfight.

Most of the information are typical things we do, like where the Cavaleiro rides the horses and gets to know them better, while the other stuff will depend on who is our guest of honor for the weekend. This article also includes a "sorteo" I attended.

Friday, June 30th @ 4:30am
Raul and I left El Segundo and traveled to the neighborhoods of Wasco and Delano where we met up with Cavaleiro Gilbert Felipe, his manager, Carlos Amorin, bandaleiros Luis and John, and Raul's brother Marc and his girlfriend Cassandra, to allow Cavaleiro Gilbert Felipe to work the horses prior to the bullfight on Monday evening.

We arrived at Candido Costa's dairy/ranch, where we practice and keep our horses while we are in town. They had already began practicing with the horses around 6am. Getting an early start allows us to avoid being in the heat as well as being able to watch the World Cup Soccer games (hee hee). Gilbert and friends are big soccer fans.

Both Friday and Saturday was pretty much the same.... eat, sleep, practice with the Taurina (mechanical bull), practice with bulls, watch soccer, swim, and play Sueca (a card game).

Saturday, July 1, 2006
On Saturday, we left Delano and went to Los Banos where we stayed for the duration of our trip. Our good friend Cavaleiro Eduardo Costa lives there and graciously allowed us to board our horses at his family ranch/dairy.

After we dropped off the horses, we all ate at Wool Growers, a French Basque restaurant which features complete family style luncheon and dinners. Our "pre" entree consisted of bread, beans, soup, green salad, potato salad, lamb stew, french fries, and red wine. Then our entree choices were pork chops, leg of lamb, fish, chicken, NY steak, tri-tip, lamb shanks, and prime rib. Due to the amount of food they served, that was considered our early dinner. The portions were fair and we were so hungry, we didn't even bring a doggie bag home.

We finally checked in to our hotel and managed to put a few hours of swimming and laying out by the pool as well as eating some ice cream at Baskin-Robins before crashing for bed. Los Banos that day was over 100 degrees, but there was also a nice breeze.

Sunday, July 2, 2006
Sunday was our rest day. Everyone pretty much was lounging and playing cards, while I sat by the pool and tried to get rid of my farmer's tan. For dinner, we went to "Espana's Restaurant", located on the site of the headquarters of the famous California pioneer and cattle baron, Henry Miller (born as Heinrich Alfred Kreiser), who arrived in San Francisco in 1850 with just six dollars in his pocket, and 40 years later became one of the most powerful men in California, owning over one million acres in five states as well as being the largest private landowner in the United States.

Monday, July 3, 2006
This was a very busy day, while very productive and restful.

We headed towards Ganadeiro Manuel C. Sousa's ganadaria in Crows Landing, where a "Sorteo" will take place. The 6 bulls that are being fought this evening (Monday, July 3rd), are all from his ganadaria.

Typically, a sorteo occurs at the corral of a bullring, but today, it was at his ranch.

I've been to a sorteo before in Villa Franca, Portugal. I was a major amateur in bullfighting back then and didn't see the importance of the event, up until these last couple of years. So, I have to say that it was an honor to have been a part of something that usually consists of only men.

When we arrived at the ganadaria, the forcados group from Portugal, "Amadores de Coruche" were also there. They came in at least three vehicles. There were so many of them, I lost count or counted them twice. They were very friendly and excited to be there. They happen to be friends with a good friend of ours Platanito, a former forcado himself. On one of our visits to Portugal, Platanito was very hospitable and showed us around some towns as well as treating us to fine dining.

Going to the sorteo gave me the opportunity to videotape the cowboys retrieving the bulls from the top of the hill and bring them back down into the corral as well as participating in picking the bulls. I was given the privilege of picking the bulls for Cavaleiro Eduardo Costa. I picked lots 193 - 215 for him. It was weird because my favorite bull was #215. On this day, it took longer because we had to wait for the President of the Festa to make a decision. One of the bulls were injured, so they had to trade it out and pick a new one from the field. After we picked our bulls, we headed back to the hotel so that we can rest before leaving for the bullfight. So, we weren't fortunate to go beyond the hills were the fighting bulls roamed. They did mention to us that one bull did not allow them to go further inside with their truck and actually side swiped one of their trucks. Instead, Manuel Sousa had to go back and get a horse and then retrieve a bull himself.

While we rested and played Sueca, Raul had gone to the horses to go put ribbons on them. Usually, the tasks for the day of the bullfight would consist of washing the horses, braiding their hair, and then applying the ribbons and adornment. Sometimes, if the horse's mane is long and pretty, ribbons aren't necessary.

I am going to skip my review on the bullfight in Gustine, because it needs a separate section by itself. Let's fast forward to the next day.

Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Our last day, we had to say our good-bye's. We waited with them in the lobby while they wait for their ride to the airport.

Mario Alves, the president of the festa and vice-president Rui Cardoso (no relation to the Cardoso brothers), along with the forcados, and the rest of the entourage came. It felt like a celebration. When we saw them outside, all of the forcados had on cowboy hats. They were so cute, I had to immediately get my camera and tape them. Two were in shorts and was just too adorable. But the fun had to end because they all had a 5:00 flight to catch and from Los Banos, it takes at least a couple of hours to get to the San Francisco airport.

So we bid them farewell. In Portugal and most European countries, it is traditional to kiss twice.... one on each cheek. On that day, I got lots of hugs and kisses from all of the men.

In Conclusion
The weekend was overall a success. It was full of laughter and jokes. Gilbert, Carlos, Luis, and John loves to play around and kept us entertained the whole time.

We will miss them dearly and look forward to their journey back in California. There's already talk that they will definitely be back next year.

I have 4 video tapes that I have to edit. It should take me a couple of weeks to upload, so look forward to some of the great footage, especially of the sorteo.

Raul and I loaded up the horses and thanked Eddie for his hospitality. We drove back to Los Angeles and fortunately, there was no traffic, so it only took us a few hours to get there.

It was a fun weekend, but it is great to be home and be with my kids and dogs.

Until my review on the bullfight, ciao for now.

Muito Obrigado ~ Gracias ~ Thank You!