Livestock auction

On October 18th we had an annual auction of livestock in Tuti. People from other towns came and either bought or sold bulls, cows, and sheep, the bulls selling for as high as 2000 dollars. It was an event that took place all afternoon, and included your stereotypical auctioneer who would count down from 20 and pause at each 5 second increment to give more detail about the animal(s), and would stretch out the last second to a full minute for those slow decision makers. There were of course the big ticket items, the biggest bulls of the bunch, and the smaller ticket items, sheep, which at times did not draw enough interest that the seller did not sell them because they did not get the price they wanted. The majority of the town attended the auction, as well as the snack vendors who sold lunch plates of chicken and potatoes, and jell-o with whip cream for dessert. Once nightfall came, the people moved to the plaza and found spectator spots in front of the municipalidad. The bull owners gave a display of value, as they dressed up themselves and their bulls, and conducted a skit on the street in front of the municipalidad. The owners wore traditional outfits (except for one owner who wore a mask and held a baby doll) while the bulls wore an embroidered blanket across their back, Peruvian flags atop their horns, and ribbons on their foreheads. Each skit involved 2 owners, with 2 bulls that had a plow strapped to them, and the owners would lead them up and down the street in front of the audience doing comical moves and dances, and using unorthodox moves to stop the bulls on command. The size of the bulls and their obedience were the determinants of their value.