EL RODEO
During my first visit to see my father in Chile about 25 years ago, I remember going to the rodeo in Chillepin, just outside of his pueblo. It’s changed a lot since then. When the world’s 5th largest copper mine was built in town, they needed to be in the community’s good graces. They built schools, recreation areas, paved roads, installed streetlamps, built every family in town a bathroom...and they significantly upgraded the rodeo stadium. Since then, it’s become a bigger spectacle with fanfare, heaps of participants, and water trucks to keep the naturally arid land from engulfing everyone in dust clouds. Now, even my father participates in the corrida.
