Today I learned of the national pastime of Columbia, a game in which players throw a metal disc 60' towards a slope of mud in the middle of which is a ring lined with explosives. The game is called tejo (Pronounced "tey-ho", remember that "j" becomes "h" in Spanish) and apparently is played by virtually everyone that lives in Columbia. The goal of game is to throw the metal disc and hit the tejo, which are triangles of paper lined with a bit of gunpowder. Players score points for successfully hitting a tejo and getting the gunpowder inside to explode. Additional points are awarded to players who manage to land their disc inside of the ring after causing the tejo to explode.
Any competition that involves exploding gunpowder sounds fun to me
Here is a link to a good video on tejo produced by the Washington Post, which, sadly, I can't easily embed here.
Here is another good video on tejo from the people at Lonely Planet:
¡Me Gusta!
Much like bowling, bocce, or horseshoes, the game itself is often little more than an excuse for the players to drink beer. There are also plenty of YouTube videos out there that show that the official rules are often thrown out the window as players move just a few steps away from the target to increase the chances of their throws resulting in the satisfying pop of exploding gunpowder. Still, the basic elements of the game remain the same: people throw metal discs at a slope of mud in the hope of setting off a small amount of explosives. Sounds fun.
Torre Bicentenario:
Continuing the south of the border theme, I came across a description of the Torre Bicentenario today. The tower, a quartz clad skyscraper 984' tall built to celebrate the bicentennial of Mexico, would be the tallest building in all of Mexico, if the builders ever get around to finishing the thing.
Fancy
