Then and Now 11 - Clubbing

Then and Now 11 - Clubbing
Time: Late 2007, single and at my apartment.

Around the time this Then and Now happened, I was in the market for a girlfriend. I had several girls hanging off of me, but my pride at being such a catch, and my sense of honor that wanted to search for the right girl instead of dating and ditching a hundred one night stands a year, kept me from moving further with any of them. I think it was exactly this cool, confident and kind standoffishness that made me so attractive to these girls. And it's probably why I had such a great time for this Then and Now with not one, but two girls who took me out to dinner and a club.

I got an email one morning from Mary, who was interested in meeting up with me to just hang out for the night, and of course I was all for it. When we met up, I saw that she had brought her friend Isis along with her. They were some really funny girls, and full of energy. When we first met up outside the subway/train station, they really took the lead in our conversations. They were enthused to just take me around from place to place around the train station, and seemed very happy and proud to explain what their country had to offer.

We first took a walk around a construction site surrounded by tall fences. The two of them insisted that we walk to a faraway bus stop before we headed off to dinner, because they had stuff to tell and show me. The first thing we did was to pass by, and try and decipher, a bunch of vulgar graffiti spraypainted on the construction site fence. I won't repeat some of the things written in English, but I don't think it takes too much imagination to guess what they said. After that, we crossed a very, very wide street that ran between the construction site, and a huge park on the other side complete with massive water fountain in the middle. In no time, we were at the bus stop, and on our way to dinner.

It was kind of dark by the time we got to the restaurant, but it was absolutely worth it. I think the architect really had to be commended, from the ornamental pillars leading into the restaurant, to the aquariums in the walls and floor that housed hundreds of brightly colored fish. We all sat down and shot the breeze for a good hour or so, and dinner arrived. I had a steak and fish at their insistence, and though I really prefer to eat meat mixed with vegetables or sandwich bread, I have to say that the meal was really delicious. We took some funny pictures with me sandwiched between these two awesome girls and grinning like an idiot, while they pressed their hands on their cheeks to make mock kissy faces on either side of me.

After dinner, we hopped another bus to head to a club in the middle of town. It was on the fourth or fifth floor of a very tall building, and the bouncers were very intimidating. This was only the second time I had ever been in a club, so I don't know how to rate the music. It was loud and full of bass, and made it very difficult for me to talk to the girls.

The girls and I sat and got some drinks. I had a whiskey and coke, and started feeling even more chipper in no time. Looking around, I noticed that even though the music was loud and ready to give everyone a good time, the fifty or so locals in the club were glued firmly to their seats. The foreign DJ was working hard, but the dance floor was completely empty, and it seemed that everyone was just trying their best to shout to one another over the music.

After I talked (shouted) with the girls for a while, one or two brave locals made their way to the floor and started bobbing up and down with no rhythm whatsoever. As painful as it was to watch them, I still admired their incredible bravery to get up there alone. And so, I decided to support them. I beckoned for the girls to follow me, and we went up there to join those brave souls. Then, in no time, locals were coming from every direction to dance. Some bobbed around, some just kind of swayed back and forth, but nobody really seemed to know what they were doing. Well, except for my girls, who were doing that really sexy slither thing that women do at clubs.

I'm not exactly a master of dance, myself. However, I was lucky enough to have a roommate back in college who knew a lot of moves. So on the dance floor in my new country, I thought back to a party that he once took me to, and tried to remember what he taught me. And so, I began to dance. I don't know what the dance is called, or how better to describe it, but it's some kind of hip hop line dance where you take two swaying steps forward then two swaying steps back, then turn ninety degrees to the left or right and repeat the moves.

I must have looked pretty silly because I hadn't danced in about five years, but that didn't stop most of the locals from keeping their eyes on me as I busted a move. One of them, a nicely dressed dude, even stood to my right and copied the dance to the best of his ability. After a good ten or fifteen minutes of sweaty, hot, bass thumping dancing, the songs switched from heavy, slow dance style to a much faster set of songs. I stopped dancing, and the local who joined me congratulated and shook hands with me for my incredible skill. He was obviously drunk, but still.

At that point, I smiled a broad smile, waved to everyone and went back to the table with the girls. High fives and smiles all around, of course. I guess I made an excellent impression with not only the locals on the dance floor, but the girls, too. Isis in particular seemed to be quite a bit more interested in talking to me at that point.

Mary started to feel kind of tired after a while, so we all finished our drinks and headed back outside to go home. The buses had stopped running by that point, so the girls and I waited outside of the club until a taxi came by. I let them take the first one, because I didn't want two girls standing alone on a dark street at 1:00 in the morning, and after we exchanged hugs and smiles, we parted. Another taxi came by shortly thereafter, and I went straight home to a relaxing shower and bed.

It wasn't long after that that not only did I start dating my wife, but the website that hosted my email account went down, so I never got into contact with either Mary or Isis after that. But that surely was a night to remember.

As for today...

I woke up at 6:00.
I played video games.
My wife and son woke up, so I turned off the computer.
I played cars with my son.
I roughhoused with him.
I went to work.
I taught students.
I came home.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I hung up wet laundry.
I did the dishes.
I watched internet movies with my son.
I slept.