A Night Out in Bluefields

So last night was the first time I went out in Bluefields and experienced what the "city" has to offer in terms of nightlife. We started at a bar on the top of a hill called La Loma. This bar is really just a giant gazebo with a thatched roof, and no walls (who needs walls when it's invariably 29°C?). We sat around and drank nicaraguan beer while a live band played some random tunes. This was particularly interesting because the place had no lights what-so-ever... just a few candles and the ambient light from the surrounding night. Watching a band in almost-complete darkness is definitely a new experience... it brings out the 'musical' aspects of the band, I guess.

Then we went off to Cuatro Hermanos (or Four Brothers, depending on which language you speak here). Cuatro Hermanos is essentially a night club, but really it's a giant bar where they turned all the lights off, and the music up past the decibel level the speakers can handle. Since the speakers were blown, and you couldn't see a thing, the place had this kind of dungeon-y allure that brought out a special kind of mood in the clientele. I have never seen more overtly sexual dancing before in my life (except for maybe the wind-and-grind dances from high school). There was one woman, probably 300 pounds, who was GETTING-DOWN with the guys she danced with... they would invariably wind up laying on the floor with this crazy woman riding them like a bull. The guys would actually pump themselves up to dance with her, and come back from the experience changed men.

I enjoyed the specific privilege of being the sole white female in the entire club of carribean-blacks, so despite being completely overwhelmed with the sexuality of the dancing surrounding me, I also had to fend off the vampire-like men that clawed at me in an effort to taste new blood. Needless to say, I spent most of the night looking for the protection of my fellow volunteer friends (and only other white people in the place) but they were all off getting jiggy with locals, doing the boy-thing I guess... A word to the wise - never go to a dance club with a group of boys if you're the only girl. It never bodes well. Anyway, being so aware of my skin color was a new feeling, and interestingly quite scary. Next time I choose to jump into a distinct position of minority, I think I'll do it in a place that isn't dark and full of sex-charged men three times my size.