Fiesta Texas or Rodeo? My answer is Rodeo!

On Saturday, the 16th of September it was planned to go to the Fiesta Texas, an amusement park not so far away from our university. Before we went to Fiesta Texas, we did some shopping at the La Cantera Mall, which has a beautiful nature scenery!

So, as we arrived at the Fiesta Texas, all of us were very excited for the thrilling rollercoaster you were able to see from far away already. So exciting!
As I was not feeling well on that day (fever) I felt even more sad, that I was physically not able to ride rollercoasters. Irrespective of this fact, Michaela and Cole offered us a ride to the Rodeo, for which Michaela was more excited to see than we were! Some other Fulbright students and I agreed on her plan and she drove to the Rodeo show after staying 2 hours at Fiesta Texas. First, I was not exactly sure what a Rodeo is, but when I talked to Michaela and the other students I finally knew what it really is and I was very excited to go there. Arriving at the Rodeo I already felt the 'Texan Vibe.' For the first time I saw people dressed in Cowboy style clothes with a big hat and cowboy boots. Even little kids were wearing long boots, which were very cute, too!

So, in the beginng actually nothing special happened. As the show did not started yet, people were gathering on the tribunes. Some were buying food, some were talking to each other. I noticed, that everyone ,young and old people, couples, singles and whole families were there and everyone were in a good mood. Finally, the show started after approximately 40min of waiting. The show began with women riding horses through the whole field. It was interesting watching them, because the horses were trained to do the things  we saw on that day and they did so well! I had never seen horses 'dancing' before. Of course, the women were holding a Texan and American flag (what's new ;-)) I think, seeing the women holding both flags make every Texan more exited and proud of his country and state. After the horse-show, the actual show began. One bull was suddenly set free, while one man was sitting onhim. The bull made very fast movements and the man had to try to stay on the bull as long as possible. After a few seconds, the man fell down and I was shocked as never before in my life, because I was worried about the man. He was now lying on the ground, and I saw how the bull hit him a little bit. I put my hand on my mouth and could not believe how fast this happened and how he was able to ride this bull. As some might can imagine, I was the only one who thought like this. Everyone else around me, enjoyed it, laughed and clapped. After realizing, that this is an acitivity Texan people enjoys, I enjoyed it, too! After seeing each and every man falling down on the floor, I was not worried anymore (is this normal? I do not know). After that, kids were also given the chance to ride bulls. They actually did really well. After approximately 2,5 hours the show was over and Michaela told us that now people are going to dance on classic texan music. So, we went out of the 'stadium' and watched the people dancing together, mostly couples. Everyone seemed to be very happy and excited for the dance. Two of us danced also, which was very funny to watch. After that, we drove back home. Reflecting on this trip, I think it was the right decision to go to the Rodeo. It was an experience, I will always remember and now I can say, that I was able to be a part of a live Rodeo! Also, I was able to taste the Texan Vibe and people and hows proud they actually are to be American and Texan. This is something, I have not seen often in Germany. This is probably one of the biggest differences between Germany and Texas and that fact makes me also think about topics like patriotism and nationalism, I have not been think about before that much.

Best, Sania