Once upon a time, two guys from the Azorean Island of Terciera,  Antonio and Sergio,  scored a whole truckload of ice cold Sagres Mini botttles of beer. Now there wasn’t any refrigeration back then in the 1500’s, so Antonio  said “Life’s too short! Lets round up the guys and go fishing and drink this beer while it’s cold!”

And so off they went.

Meanwhile, the women of Terciera were home busy making cheese, baking bread, milking cows and sewing aprons with the word “Acores” in different colors on the front.

And while the cheese was still draining, These  Spaniards arrived by boat, full bent on invading and conquering the island. But the local men were not around to defend their land. So the women shared a collective eye roll and sighed, wiped their hands on their aprons, and proceeded to the pastures where the bulls were kept.

Now these bulls are important to the Azores. There are more cows than people, and they are important for cheese, milk, and butter. And the bulls are important to keep the cows populated.

And the bulls are huge and strong. And they don’t particularly like shiny wiggly things. So when the Spaniard came charging up the hill, the bulls, now freed by the women, took one look at the Spaniards’ shiny swords and wiggly fringe, and went full out after the Spaniards, heads down, horns pointing forward, hoofs flying.

The Spaniards did not expect this at all! And they fled! Running back to their ships where they frantically hoisted sail, yanked up their outboards and got out of there!

Then the women put the bulls back, fed them, and went back to the duty of cheese and bread,

By dark, Antonio, Sergio and all the guys returned home with their truck full of empty bottles of Sagres Minis only to find the women quite pissed.  They weren’t man enough to stand up to the Spanish. For that matter, they weren’t around enough either.

So the men needed to prove themselves to the women!  Antonio had an idea! They would let one  bull out of his pen, taunt him with shiny things or umbrellas,  and take turns trying to “grab” the bull by It’s horns. Or even try to get on the bull’s back. Which more often than not ended in the guys getting rather mauled. But this started a tradition that is still going on today. Guys still trying to prove their manhood by trying to take on angry bulls. This happens right out in the street.  The bulls are loose and the guys get beat up, stepped on, bumped, butted and stabbed. It’s an annual event called the Bull Run, of Festival of the Bull. Over the years they’ve started putting rubber caps on the bulls’ horns but the guys still get beat up. But they still do it! And at the end of the day, the women shoo off the guys, scratch the bulls behind their ears, pet their furry foreheads, put them back in the pasture, feed them and go back to cheese, bread and sewing.

And the men may or may not have proved their manhood after that one day when they missed the Spaniards, but the women are still doing their thing with the cheese and bread only now they also hire pool boys.
But they don’t have any pools.

So