Four Argentines, a VW van and a trip to the rodeo

A van of friends from Argentina came through Texas to see some real cowboys.

By Lucía BenavidesMarch 25, 2016 10:10 am

Iñaki Zemborain is on one epic road trip: he’s traveling from Miami, Florida, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a 1980 Volkswagen van with three of his friends. They were attracted to Texas because of its cowboy culture.

“We used to see a lot of Texan movies, Hollywood movies, back in Buenos Aires,”  he says. “We thought they were kind of exaggerated but when we came here we found out that the reality of the Texans was exactly as they show them in the movies.”

While passing through Houston, the group found out there was a rodeo taking place and bought last-minute tickets. There, they saw some of those classic Texas images in real life.

“We’re quite impressed with the national pride that Texans have,” he says. “We saw a horse with a Texas flag full of colors and shiny lights. Everything was loud and noisy and the people were kind of crazy when the flag came in.”

Zemborain says in a way, rodeos reminded him of home. “We have the same thing in Argentina – we have rodeos as well, but it’s more like cultural and folkloric,” he says. “It’s not about the show.”