Cock Fights

Lima, Peru

Our homestay Grandma called and got a cab to take us to a Cock Fighting arena. Its a circular building whose sole purpose is to hold cock fights. You walk in and there is a dirt covered circle (the fighting area) with fencing, thankfully it was not your standard chicken wire but something with much bigger holes. Around two thirds of it were chairs, stadium style and the other third was tables with waitress service, this was also stadium style. Behind all of the seating there was a classic looking bar and a stage where some live Peruvian music was being played. Terrible neon lights lit the arena and there was a light mist falling on the dirt. Persumably to keep the dust down during the fights. Entrance fee was s/15 for men and s/10 for women. I guess its to encourage couples to head to the fights.
Ben Boudreaux and I entered, we were amoung the first to arrive. We immediatley got beers and sat and speculated on what was about to happen. It turns out we were at the season´s grand finale. The evening was to be filled with a round robin of the finest cocks. Eight cocks that would be whittled down to one. Each of these birds had won matches before/had already killed. It was to be the best of the best. The room starting filling up, mostly groups of men, some obvious couples, and a few families.
The first two cocks came out. They were held by men and covered in satin like fabric, imagine a boxer heading to the ring. The fluffers rubbed the birds and then took off there coverings to show male roosters lacking the typical characteristics of a male chicken. No feathers on head and no gobbler. After this the fluffers brought the cocks together and they sort of pecked each other and then retreated. From here each bird was brought to a corner where another man came on stage and tied a razor to the back of each cock´s left leg (to quicken the fight, I guess.) Then a man came and wiped down each of the razor blades ( for sanitary reasons, I imagine.)
As the fluffers continued to hold the birds, bookies came out and took bets. About fifteen small men wearing vests and shouting and pointing. We decided to make a bet to create a bit of emotional commitment to a bird. Ben decided on the bird he thought looked like a killer. There was not much difference here. He made eye contact with one guy and bet s/5.
We had a bird and the fight began. The fluffers brought the cocks together again to get them fired up and then a third man came in and put a metal sheet on the ground. On each side of the sheet was one cock. The fluffers left the fighting area and the man pulled out the metal sheet and left the arena. The cocks just sort of stood there awhile and the crowd started yelling, "Areeba! Areeba!" Finally, the birds started pecking each other and then there was jumping, and then some feathers flew. Then one of the cocks stopped moving, the crowd started cheering and the cock Ben had bet on had was proclaimed the winner.
The fluffers took the cocks out, both bleeding and one clearly dead. The man who Ben had placed his bet with came over and gave Ben s/38. As it turned out Ben had bet s/50 not s/5. We were victorious but a little sketched out. That was the last bet we made.
We stayed for a few more fights that were pretty much the same except sometimes the cocks just stopped fighting so the fluffers would come in and get them angry again so they would fight some more. It got a bit boring and the crowd got more intense the beer was flowing and the room was filling with smoke. We left after the first semi-final. It was enough cock fighting for one night/one trip/one lifetime.