Night out

Last night I got to enjoy Spain, not as an American but more as a Spaniard.

Saturday they moved a group of us off base to a local town. Last night, Other Eric and I decided we were going to go downtown late and see what we could find.

We had some wine with some others in the hotel lobby before leaving. Once again, all I know is that it was red…but, again, it was good.

One of the Master Sergeants (MSgt) I work with sat down with us. This guy is a piece of work. He talks to hear the sound of his own voice. We were arguing over something going on at work. He’d try to make his point, which was basically, “But that is too hard! We shouldn’t have to do it!” I would then make my point “It’s the military. Grow up, grow a pair and do what they tell you to.” And he’d go right back to complaining like I hadn’t said a thing. I now have an idea of what it is like parenting a teenager.

He got up for a second and Other Eric said “As soon as this bottle of wine is gone, we’re out of here.” I nodded my agreement. We finished up the bottle and took the first opening in the conversation to stand up and say “We’ll, we’re going downtown. Bye.”

We had a rental car and drove it down town. This is what they called a mid-size. The only difference between this and the compact we drove to Rota was this one had a trunk that could be used to store the body of Verne Troyer in it, but only if we folded him up.

We parked it and started walking around. We heard some loud music coming from down one of the roads off the main drag so we followed it. It was about 2200 (10 PM). We found the music…and about 150-200 14-17 year-olds.

I know I’ve talked to many people about the way girls dress in the US. In fact, I even blogged on it once, here. But Spanish girls take the prize. These girls were dressed like prostitutes. Skirts that stopped at the bottom of the butt cheek were the popular item. We were a bit bothered mainly because our ideal evening didn’t included hanging around people our age.

So we wandered past that and into a bar where I could use the bathroom. When I came out, Other Eric had already ordered us beer (Mahou which is much better than Cruzcampo). There were 3 Spanish guys in there, the bartender, Mike, and two other guys, Al and Frank (shortened from their real names). We spent about the next hour or so in that bar talking to them. Now, by talking, I mean we would sputter out broken Spanish phrases and they would do the same in English. They made us feel welcome, though. They bought us a round and we returned it. They also told us the teeny-boppers went home around midnight and the adults came out just after midnight. This was good news. So we drank with them just a little bit.

Funny short story. Other Eric went into the bathroom and I thought it would be funny to take a stack of chairs and push them in front of the door so it would be hard to get out. So I run over to the bathroom door across the floor I just watched someone mop…and fell completely square on my butt. No reaching out to grab anything. No slipping but regaining my balance quickly. I planted, butt first, right onto the ground…right in front of the 3 Spanish guys we just met. I’m sure they’re telling that story as I type this.

We left the bar and agreed to meet Mike, Al and Frank in about an hour in another bar. We wandered back up the street and went into a bar we’d been in a couple nights before. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, Other Eric was talking to some old guy with 8 teeth at the bar. Apparently, the old guy had just started talking to him.

He kept telling us his name was Manuel and asking us our names. And then he would explain what he was saying. And tell us his name and ask ours. Then he would explain to us what he just said. But after that, he’d change the subject by telling us his name and asking ours. This went on for 10 straight minutes with him only stopping to breathe. I eventually told him that Other Eric was Indiana Jones and that my name was Neo. For some reason he kept calling me Mr. Anderson (the nerds reading that will get it). We wandered away as soon as a table came open.

We left that bar and wandered back down the road and into the bar where we said we’d meet Mike, Al and Frank. We found them and they introduced us to their friends. I’m sure it went something like this (translated for ease of reading):

“Hey, shake these guys’ hands. They wandered into our bar. This one’s name is Eric and so is the other guy. How stupid is that? And the really stupid looking one fell right onto his butt while running towards the bathroom door. Then he got up and put chairs in front of the door for some reason. They’re American idiots but you don’t need me to tell you that. Just hang around them for a few minutes. Maybe if we treat them nice and they’re really stupid, they’ll buy us a round.”

I bought them a round and we hung out there for about 3 hours. It was a great time. Everyone was so good to us and seemed genuinely happy to have us there. It was great to be able to get out and experience Spanish night-life from what was mostly a Spanish perspective.

We’re going out again Wednesday night!