Oh What a Night!

Ok...sorry for the delay with this post.  At first, I was just processing everything (and catching up on sleep after a long night)...and then I got busy.  So...here's my epic story (funny now, but wasn't quite so funny at the time).  All of this took place last Thursday night.

Two of my five roommates are in a dance class at the university and had told the rest of us that their class was taking an optional field trip to a club to practice salsa dancing.  They were allowed to bring friends.  Well...weeks later when the trip actually came up, those two girls were in London, but I went with another roommate regardless because she knew other people in the dance classes.

We left about 10:30 pm (early here)...and that only gave me 15 minutes to get ready after my intercambio. First, we walked to another friend's house to meet up with her and then she walked us to Plaza de Espana (where the Royal Palace is).  There, we met up with other people (mostly people I did not know - but they were very nice) and we pre-gamed.  Bu "we pre-gamed," I mean "they pre-gamed by drinking cheap sangria and I watched and froze because I did not have alcohol in my system to dull the sensation of the cold."  I later found out we did not have to meet the rest of the group til midnight...which made me wonder why I had agreed to leave so early in the first place.  

Finally it was time to meet up with everyone else.  When we found the group, there were more people than expected (like 40 or 50 people in total) with the dance teacher.  And I didn't realize til then just how many people I knew that were in the dance classes...so many friends and acquaintances were there and I didn't expect it. We walked for about 10 minutes as a group before reaching our destination...Randall club, a salsa dancing club.  My original plan was to leave at 1:30 in time to catch the last metro home.  But then we got there so late and people said the metro might be closed already...so I stayed.

We all were wallflowers are a few minutes...just watching in awe as the Spaniards danced.  They are soooo good!!!!  Boy I wish I could dance like that!  Then we began to join in...very slowly.  Guys (from our group) started asking girls and other girls went out and danced together.  We just tried out steps we knew and those who were actually in the dance classes taught a few steps to those who weren't.

I had come in expecting to be immediately asked to dance by a Spanish guy and to not be able to refuse (because that would be rude - but I wasn't sure I wanted to dance with a Spaniard because I don't know the steps and thought it would be awkward).  This was not the case...wrong impression/assumptions!  Little by little, a few of my friends were asked to dance by Spanish men (I might add that these men were much older than them, but that is perfectly ok here because it doesn't go any further).  And by this point, I wanted to be asked to dance by a guy - any guy!  Finally around 1:30, I was asked to dance by Spanish men two songs in a row!  And I had a blast.  It was not awkward like I thought it would be and I had a blast!  Though the steps were a bit difficult and they kept having to teach me/lead.

I was having fun, but after those two songs, I took a break and was with friends for a bit.  Then they started what seemed similar to a line dance...everyone followed the people on the stage.  Immediately after this dance as I was deciding what to do next, an older guy (I would say age 28ish) came up to me and said (in Spanish), "I saw you and had 'muchas ganas' (many desires) to dance with you."  My response?  Well in my head, I was like, "Whoa!  You are totally flirting with me...this is a little much, but whatever.  Gotta live a little."  Outwardly, I just smiled and said yes.

So we were just dancing and talking.  I don't remember his name, but he was from Argentina (Thank God I did not tell him that I'm going there next semester).  And I told him my first name and that I was from America and lived in the U.S.  I noticed that he was dancing quite close to me, but thought nothing of it because I assumed this was the norm (after all, Argentinians are used to the Tango and you dance that very intimately).  

Then he asked me, "¿Cuánto tiempo llevas aquí?  Ok...so I still do not know exactly what this means because people have told me different things since.  But now I realize he was attempting to ask me how much time I have left here.  Well at the time, I thought he was asking how long I had been here...so I rounded way up and said 2 months.  His response was definitely not what I expected...(again in Spanish), "Well in those two months, we are going to become boyfriend and girlfriend." 

Alarm bells went off in my head..CREEPER!!!!  And I was wondering why he had said that since I had literally met him 2 minutes before...so I came up with the best excuse I could on the spot.  "I'm sorry, but I can't because my mother wouldn't like it."  He got around that one waaayyy too easily by saying simply, "Oh don't worry we just won't tell your mother."

At this point, I was beginning to be legitimately creeped out.  Why I continued dancing with him after that question...I have no idea.  I keep asking myself why I didn't just walk away.  But then my story wouldn't be nearly as funny...we haven't even gotten to the climax yet.

So a couple minutes later, another guy (presumably a friend) came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.  They had a quick exchange in rapid Spanish and then my dance partner returned to me and said, "I have to go do...(I don't remember what)...but I'll be back.  Will you wait for me?" I had no idea how late I would be out and did not want to wait for him, so I said, "I don't know how long I'll be here." But he only became more persistent...so eventually I just nodded (though I had no intention of actually waiting for him.  I figured if I saw him come back, I'd hide among my friends).  

What did he do next?  Kissed me on the lips (I did not see it coming or I would have slapped him) and walked away.  AWKWARD!!!!!!!  I was legitimately afraid of what he might do upon his return (but now in hindsight it seems hilarious!).  

So my friends...(with perfect timing for once) came up to me within 5 minutes of him leaving and said they were going somewhere else and would I be okay staying there or would I rather tag along.  Of course, I was happy to get out of there.  So I followed them.  We left at about 2:15 am.

They were planning to go to a bar in Sol (Centro), but I wanted to go home.  So I decided maybe I'd walk from Sol (though I knew this was probably dangerous and did not like the idea of walking home along at night but did not know how long they would be out).  Then one of my guy friends here was talking about learning how to use the buses (there are buses and they run during the day but some are at night when the metro is closed and they all take metro passes).  So I decided to go with him and figure out the buses, figuring that at least I would only be alone on a bus and then for a few minutes after it dropped me off at my metro stop.  This was at about 2:45 am.

I couldn't have been more wrong.  We jumped on a bus for a plaza further away from my apartment where we would be able to catch the buses we wanted (he lives on the other side of town).  So we looked around, he talked to this random guy begging for money and tried to help him (looking back, he seemed like he actually needed help but at the time I was afraid he might be a fraud). Then we asked at information which buses we needed to take to get to our metro stops.

So he and I said goodbye and walked to where we would wait for our buses.  Somehow as I looked at the bus routes, I thought two totally different buses were the same thing and that I would be dropped off at my metro stop.  Yeah...wrong!  I needed to take the bus they originally told me because the two were not the same and the one that stopped where I usually get on the metro was not running at night.  And I managed to miss the one I actually needed.  So I waited...(this was before I realized I was waiting for the wrong bus and I was by myself and quite cold and afraid - just praying I would get home safely)...3:00 am...3:10 am.  At this point, I finally figured out with some other random guy's help that I was confusing the buses.  But then I saw my bus and it did not stop.  

I finally found my bus waiting on a corner around 3:20 am.  Everyone was standing around waiting, so I asked why no one was getting on...my luck...the driver was on break.  This was when I realized that this bus would not take me to my metro stop.  So as we were waiting, a nice guy with an i-phone helped me figure out which stop to get off at and tried to show me how to get home from there.  It was a stop whose name I recognized and I knew it was close to my house, but still was not quite sure how to get home when I stepped off the bus by myself at about 3:30.  I walked for about 20 mins, asked a couple of other people who were out for directions, and finally got to a place I knew and walked the last few blocks home, arriving at 3:50 am.  Phew!  

Then almost immediately upon arriving home, I got a text from my roommate saying she would be home in 10 mins and could I let her in because she had forgotten her keys.  I was soooo mad when I realized I might as well have just stayed with the rest of the group and walked home with her instead of attempting to be safe by taking the bus and ending up alone at night in unfamiliar surroundings.  Drat!  

Had I known what would happen before I made the decision to take the bus, I would have either packed cab money (I took my 20 euro bill out of my wallet because I wasn't going to buy any drinks and didn't want it stolen) or stayed with the rest of the group.  Sigh...what an interesting night!  Thank you Jesus for bringing me home safely!  And I learned from my mistakes this time and will always have cab money from now on...the end.

Here are the only photos I took...

Peace and Blessings,

Melanie

Spanish Words of the Day:  bailar = to dance, noche = night, peligroso = dangerous :)