Es una dia completa

Wow, today was for waking up at 630 in the morning and getting ready for my first tour of the city. I went via bus and metro with Carlos (my host father's son-in-law) the whole way to meet up with the USAC group. It looks like the commute to the Andres Belo campus is about 45 minutes of pickpocket-full buses and stations. They keep warning us about the dangers of pickpockets but I think the best method for safety is simply common sense... speaking of which I should probably put a strap on my camera...

We had a tour of the school, the campus is right in the downtown area and is surrounded by shops and restaurants. There are only about 12 buildings in the university but they seem to be providing for themselves well. We were the most conspicuous group I can imagine while walking through there: a bunch of gringos talking in English and looking all impressed by everything seems to be an invitation for staring to the locals. Cat-calling seems to be a popular thing for guys to do to girls here and I'm not sure that I impressed any of the USAC kids when I joined in but I did make some of them laugh, so it's not all lost. I was going more for the I-appreciate-your-culture thing than look-I'm-a-gringo-who-can-yell, but the feeling was right. The blonds in our group get especial attention too, they get yelled at, whistled at and cheered everywhere they go.

I had my first flirted-with experience today: after the campus tour everyone branched off to go get some food and a few of us went to a local bar to see what the students do during the day. We sat in a group of about six in this crowded, smoke filled, room. Right next to our table and in front of me a large group of girls were sat with a huge amount of beer. They lit up their cigarettes and chattered on like a bunch of magpies. There was one girl, though, who I caught looking at me though she'd always glance away quickly. I looked over, out of ego-driven interest, to see if she was still looking and while I glanced she decided to look without trepidation. I was so shocked that she'd stare directly at me that I forgot to look away for a good three or four seconds. Anyway our group gets up to leave and as I stand I look at her, smile, and say "Chao" then turn to exit, only to turn the wrong way and get blocked into a corner in front of this now-silent group of girls. I laughingly turn back, retrace my steps and head for the door when I hear her say "bye!" Looking back at her I said "bye" back to be rewarded with an entire table of screaming girls waving their hands in the air. I blushed a violent red and booked it out of there. Sheesh.

Dogs absolutely run this city. They sleep in the middle of the sidewalks, they scrounge around trashes and unwatched bags, they are even seen lying under parked cars just waiting to be run over. There are no pure-bred dogs on the streets, they are all a mottled mix of long and short hair, long and wide snouts and all different colors. None of them are neutered (duh) so they just breed and produce more mutts. I haven't personally seen the procreative process, but I doubt very much that they'd go much out of their way to hide it.

My friend Nicola told me about her first trip to the US, she told me that it took about three months for her to be thinking completely in English (German being her first language) and I don't doubt her in the least. My host family speaks only Spanish with the exception of Carlos - the father - who's English, though good, is broken and slow. Because of this I am constantly trying to speak Spanish to the point that I have to physically stop myself from saying "pero" instead of "but" when I go back to speaking English. I have found that in my thoughts the words I know in Spanish are already replacing the English counterparts such that I am now thinking predominantly in English but I have Spanglish sub-tones. Even writing this blog, when I come across a sentence, word or phrase that I know in Spanish I have to stop my fingers from automatically typing that. Its a fascinating process and I can't wait for it to progress.

I found the other USAC gays, it turns out. Of course the habit is to observe people and connect with them on a person to person basis, trying not to judge based on assumed sexuality, but there are always those that stand out so that their orientation is foremost in their personalities. They say one in every 10, but I've only found two others, a girl and a guy (neither of whose names I can remember). The girl's girlfriend showed up today and I was curious so I went up to talk to them about it. When I said my boyfriend would be visiting as well they both let out a kind of yelp and said "wow! finally we found the fifth!" I guess they were missing just one more to make the gay-to-straight ratio perfect. I'm glad I could contribute to their mathematics.

Tonight I'm going out on the town with the other students here. We're meeting at the Salvador metro station at 10 and going from there. I'm excited to see the night life, but to tell you the truth I don't really like being up and sleeping late, which I imagine is going to happen tonight and tomorrow. I'd rather be chill and hang with people, chat, play music, whatever but the bar scene - especially in a country I mostly don't understand - I can only imagine will be exhausting... and alcohol seldom allows my sleep to be very restful afterward. I can only be smart about it.