Gay bars and real food

On Friday night, I went with Renzo to see Parque de las Aguas (Park of the Fountains) and it was sooo beautiful. I forgot the memory card in my camera, but I'm probably going to go back at the end of my stay in Lima. Since a lot of parks in Lima are very small, I had thought that it was just one water fountain that did many different tricks. But it was quite a big park with many different fountains, and included a tunnel that went across a busy street to another section of the park. The water fountains play synchronized music and light up in different colors at night, so I think most people go at night. It was 4 soles to enter (a little more than a dollar). Renzo and I may not have been completely sober but the park was definitely one of the most beautiful sights I've seen so far. I wish it had been warmer outside because it would have been fun to play in some of the fountains or their spray, which a lot of kids were doing. Couples were flirting on the dark benches and security guards were whistling at anyone who was horsing around in the water. The tunnel was a lot like a museum exhibit with tons of information about water, the polluted Rio Rimac of Lima, climate change, and science; I was mesmerized with reading the Spanish. In the middle of the park was a huge fountain that had a music and laser light show every hour and accompanying trippy videos projected on the water streams. It was surreal.

The show included part of the song from The Black Swan play, so I got a major craving to watch the recent Natalie Portman movie. After leaving the park, Renzo and I bought the movie and went back to the apartment to watch it.... but I was wiped out so we just went to bed.

I spent the majority of Saturday relaxing, listening to music, and exploring my area of Lima. Here's some linguini and tuna fried in olive oil I made, mmmm. Definitely didn't mind this part of the diet. Peach drink too.

I went out to buy a map of Lima because that's one of the things I'm missing making my trip different from Tokyo, but the only bookstore people could think of was closed. I got a sudden craving for carrot cake, so I walked 3 blocks, past Inppares to the bakery where the employees often eat, and bought myself some amazing cake. Because I was technically still cheating on my diet, I asked the baker to heat up my slice of cake, which would kill any bacteria on it. So tasty. 

Check out these jugglers in between traffic lights! They perform and then walk around with a hat for people to donate. I think it's a win-win because it's really entertaining during an otherwise boring stoplight. 

My legs started to get tired from all the walking, so I headed home. But check out this pretty bike path that never ends.

For dinner I went out to a nearby restaurant and adhered to the diet again while reading the newspaper in Spanish. I ordered "panqueque" for dessert, sort of expecting a pancake but I got a thick crepe with honey. REALLY good.

At 9:20, Renzo and I left for Miraflores/LarcoMar so I could meet Evelyn and her friend. We were super late (tried to get there at 10pm but arrived at 10:20) but no one really cared. I said goodbye to Renzo because he didn't have money for the club and headed with Evelyn and Milagros in a taxi to Downtown Vale Todo, a famous gay-and-everyone-else club. We met up with her friends and I was introduced to everyone. I was the tallest of the people in the group. :)

The sign of the club, Downtown Vale Todo. It means basically "everything is accepted/do what you want." There were lots of straight couples, a few old people, girls in swimsuits, guys without their shirts on, lesbians making out, gays making out, and plenty of "regular"-looking people (mostly homosexual) dancing "regularly". 

There were two rooms: latin dance music and electronic music. I enjoyed the electronica room wayyyyy more. It was funny that so much of the music was U.S. Top 40, but thankfully this year has been good for that. The best part was that there were many people singing along loudly... but I was the only one who actually knew the lyrics. Truly, there were people just yelling nonsense words to Britney Spears "Til the World Ends" and Katy Perry "Peacock", just to name a few. Everyone freaked out when Shakira's "Rabiosa" came on. Photos were not allowed in the club but I took some anyway. A really drunk gay guy danced all over me and kept yelling "PARTY!! WOO HOOO!!!" The girls in my group left to check out the Latin room so I stayed and found a group of two straight girls, one gay guy, and one lesbian who was quite drunk and quite touchy. At first I thought the lesbian was fun and cool, but then her drunkenness and responses to her friends started to annoy me so I ditched her to watch the drag show. I spent awhile looking for Evelyn and the other girls, and eventually found them drinking sangrias and dancing merengue. I remembered some of the basics that Steven taught me and I was passed around by the girls for some merengue lessons. 

I was completely sober due to the antibiotics course but the music, atmosphere, and lights reminded me so much of being drunk. I was glad I had my balance and wits about me, and infinitely relieved to not feel sick in any way. Even though I was a tiny bit more self-conscious about my dancing than I would have been if I had been tipsy, I was getting ego-boosts from all sides. Women, straight guys, and gay guys were coming up to me telling me I was the most beautiful woman they'd seen, that I dance really well, please dance for us, etc. Yes, they were probably drunk. One guy was following some people through the crowd to get to the bar and reached out to tap my shoulder just to say "Que linda eres!" (How pretty you are.)

I was keeping a close watch on my pockets to make sure no one robbed me, but I felt very secure and non-threatened in this gay bar (similar to other gay bar experiences). The women were too short to kiss me without my consent. ;) The men were grinding on other men. People respected me when I said, "I want to dance alone now" and I could always fake a lack of understanding/hearing/sobriety in order to get out of anything less than fun. 

At one point the drag queens on the second floor threw glowsticks to everyone! I helped some people put theirs on their wrists and men gave me extras so they could compliment me for longer. With glowsticks on my wrists, neck, and hands, I waved my arms wildly around in the dark and jumped all around in the crowd for song after song. Although admittedly I had taken a caffeine pill at about 11pm, I started to get weary around 1:30am and then super-weary at 2:30am. When the DJ made a misstep and started playing some 80s slow rock song, I said my goodbyes, retrieved my coat-checked items, and headed out. 

I rode back in a taxi with one of my new friends and we discussed romance. I got back at about 4am, slipped quietly in, shed my damp clothes, and went to bed. That gay discoteca was a lot more fun than the ones I've been to in the US. Its lighting system was the only thing I'd change; I'd make it more like the one at Club Pulse. But the building itself was huge with two floors, two separate dance floors, and tons of accessible bars and quiet seating areas. Oh, and I would have definitely made the bathrooms more like the ones at Club Pulse; these ones really needed some more maintenance than they got during the rush hour of dancing.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon for sleeping reasons. This is the food I just ate. OMG. Fried chicken (not breaded), lentils, rice, and salad. It's awesome how happy it makes me just to eat food like this. Today I experienced an ecstatic buzz just from having a solid poop. I couldn't stop smiling. AND I KNOW IT'S WEIRD. But if you had been sick for more than a week and forced to eat bland food or else feel like crap, and STILL have diarrhea, you'd be happy too when it's over. I am healthy!!! And I finally got my exercise dancing at Vale Todo because my legs are killing me today. :)