So Alegría on Saturday was amazing (as expected). It wasn’t quite as good as the other Cirque show that we’ve seen but I was still very impressed. This was definitely a more “technical” show regarding the stunts / stage setup, so Michael was quite occupied trying to figure out how it all worked. It seemed short to me, but I’m guessing that’s only because I was having such a good time. I’m glad we went, and now I have a hoodie from two different Cirque shows. I’d love to collect them all!

On the way home Michael decided he was hungry so we ended up stopping at a Sheetz. Now I haven’t been in Sheetz since I graduated, and anyone who went to and/or goes to Juniata knows that Sheetz and their takeout (MTO) tends to become quite a staple in one’s lifestyle. So after a brief yet emotional reunion with the MTO touch-screen order system, we both got something to eat. I also stocked up with 4 bags of “Party Mix” which is a combination of chips, Cheetos and pretzels that I have never been able to find/buy from anywhere but those stores and my old dorm’s vending machine.

Tuesday Nicole came to my house so that she, Michael and I could go to the Troy Fair the next morning. We ordered out Pizza and ended up watching a Jeff Dunham special and then one of Robin Williams’ stand-up specials. Michael came over after he got out of work and we ended sitting down to watch Push. It was actually a pretty good movie even though it had Dakota Fanning in it. She’s a good actress, but I mostly to avoid her movies because I tend to associate her with extremely crappy horror flicks.

Wednesday was, in a word, wet. When the three of us left for the fair it wasn’t raining at all. But before we left we had a conversation about Nicole’s shoes and whether or not she should wear her flip-flops. The exact words out of her mouth were “as long as it’s not muddy I’ll be fine”. Well, by the time we got to the fairgrounds, it was indeed raining. We managed to miss the heavy downpours by ducking into several of the display buildings, and the fair didn’t really seem any less lively even considering the weather. Plus I got lots of cute cow pictures and finally found out that my favorite cow breed, which I’ve been calling “oreo cows” are actually called Dutch Belts. Once Nicole left (she had to get home to make it to work), Michael and I went back to his house to dry out. I intended on taking a nap, but ended up playing WoW instead. It eventually stopped raining and we went back to the fair.

The reason we went back to the fair is that we had tickets to see the rodeo which was going on that night. We went last year and it was lots of fun. They did bull riding and women’s barrel racing with some “shows” in between. One of the shows was a stunt rider and the other was Jerry Olsen and his two performing horses Justin Boots and Bucko.

Now I’ve seen Mr. Olsen’s performance before, and it is quite interesting. This one, however, I was not impressed with. Bucko was cute as ever and didn’t everything he was asked. Justin, the full sized horse does a few stunts with a moving vehicle. The entire ring was and absolute muddy mess and even the horses who were just trotting around in it earlier were slipping around a bit. I’m guessing that this is why even after several attempts he would not run and jump into the back of the moving truck (and Mr. Olsen openly admitted that horses were extremely skittish about stepping on or into anything that is moving away from them). Mr. Olsen was getting visibly angry each and every failed attempt (I’m guessing because the crowd was laughing quite profusely) to the point where the last time he gave the command he literally hit Justin in the neck with his fist and proceeded to kick the horse in its back leg. At that point I was ready for the show to be over; I don’t care if the animal is a performer, there’s no need to use physical violence on it just because it isn’t doing what you want it to.

After the shows were over they finished up the bull riding. As the last couple riders were getting ready to go on, the Heavens opened up and it started to downpour. Once the rodeo was over, Michael and I went to get some last minute foodstuffs which he wanted (since we were both hungry). I had an umbrella but when 90% of me was soaked and there were too many things to carry, I just gave up and put it under my arm (it was leaking anyways). So I was soaked from head to toe, my slice of pizza was soaked to the point where a little water/grease path was running in a steady stream off my plate.

By the time Michael drove me home, he decided that it wasn’t worth trying to get back home with as badly as it was raining, so we threw our stuff in the dryer and watched TV for a little while. When the cable went out I finally decided that it was time for bed.

Its been a fun few days, and now I’m getting ready to take my GRE on Saturday. Everybody wish me luck.