Fun Fact No. 11: Don't throw TP down the hole. You have to put it in a trash can. The sewage system can't handle it.
So on Friday, I went to watch Gay Soccer (futbolito gay) with Mario Sr., Mario from UT, and a terrific girl from Cusco named Lilia. The entrance fee is a food donation for the local AIDS hospice and for the price of a roll of TP or some rice, you get 6 rounds of gay soccer. It's basically a bunch of gay men (some far more flamboyant than others) from different "countries" (jerseys that say "Spain", "Argentina" or "Holland") that play 20 minute rounds of soccer. They're great players too (well, they're South American), but it's hilarious because a bunch of them squeal and flap their hands. The stands were packed, which I found surprising, because I would think that the average Peruvian wouldn't be that into this sort of thing. But the audience was pretty quiet. Normally, Peruvians are pretty vocal about soccer but here they were relatively quiet unless there was a really, really good play or a "cat fight". The announcer was hilarious - he told the crowd that they'd better start cheering because who's to know if they'll be playing gay soccer next week, next month, or next year. And these soccer players are pretty young - between 16 and 30 years old. I think it's pretty brave of them to come out so openly in a relatively machista society. Regardless, it was great GREAT fun!
Afterward, Lilia, Mario from UT, and another American named Lars went to an aguardiente bar. Aguardiente is this super SUPER strong moonshine that usually tastes pretty nasty. But at this particular bar, they make regular drinks with it, and the taste is masked. After two whole pitchers of caipirinha, we were about ready to hit the sack. Whew!
Saturday came and Mario Jr. took me to the Lion's Club swimming pool. I had been talking about going for a swim for a while, but I didn't know where to go. Weighing our options, Mario chose this particular pool because it's pretty close to our house and it's only 1 sol (about 30 cents) to get in. It's gorgeous. It's completely tiled, and is about 9 feet deep. It has diving blocks for swim teams and it's 25 meters long. There weren't too many people there, so we just swam laps and relaxed. It's SUPER chlorinated, though, so my hair was a lot worse for the wear afterward.
After swimming we went to a parillada, which is like a temporary pollo asado stand. The parilladas here are usually on Saturday afternoons, and it was delicious! Beer and grilled chicken after swimming hits the spot!Later that night, we were sitting around the kitchen table shooting the bull when Fox, a big husky was antagonizing Laico, my personal favorite mutt. I harassed Laico to play with Fox but instead, he bit my hand. HARD. It bled and hurt! I totally asked for it, but it still sucks. Now I've been bitten twice (isn't that a movie?) in the Amazon by household dogs. Hooray for dog bite scars!
After nursing my hand, I went downtown to grab a beer and relax before hitting up Berimbau, a discoteca near the main square. It was a long night - I got home at 4am (I'm too old for this crap!) and after swimming in the afternoon and dancing for 5 hours, my body is exhausted. Funny thing about the discoteca is that they'll put on some Ludacris or Outkast and then for about an hour, you get tecno-cumbia that is all in the same key with the same rhythm. And then they'll put on a few other songs like the hip hop or salsa and you get about 5 minutes of respite before you're right back in the tecno-cumbia groove. Dios mio! And the way they dance to hip hop is funny, because it's like a watered down version of the way we do. It was fun regardless.
The other day I went to see if I could get a pair of prescription sunglasses and the girl who waited on me was super sweet and we exchanged numbers. She invited me over to her house for lunch yesterday and we had a ball. Her family is great, and really funny! She has an aunt named Neddy who has the filthiest mouth of any woman I have ever met and their cute little Pentecostal grandma was laughing hysterically! It was a great time.
Last night it was cold, and it made me nostalgic for the fall that will never come here. *sniffle*
2 comments:
I hope your hand is okay, I would also like some ice cream. I miss you!
i feel like i need to make sure you're watching that dog for signs of rabies! we can't have you getting sick.
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