Where's the party at?

O my goodness. Friday night was absolutely crazy. We had our own pre party of running around like little kids trying to figure out if what we were wearing was party ready. Once we walked out the door and smelled the fresh midnight air, the party search was on. We took 3 trains before we found an area that looked like it was apart of the party scene.

These guys that worked at a bar who weren't so sober, directed us to a club. So we hopped in a two taxis between the 7 of us to get there. I guess they're in a rush out here just as in the city (NYC) because the taxi I was in almost rammed into the back of the taxi the other half of our group was in. So we made it safe in about 10 minutes. We had the bright idea to not wear coats. It felt really warm. I guess that wasn't such a good idea. We were the only ones without coats. Could you have thought of another way to scream tourist?

We met this nice couple on the strip. He spoke French of course, but along with that he spoke English and Spanish which was great. He and his girlfriend were very funny as well. We told them about the original place we were headed to and he said no, don't go there. He told us about a place called O P A. He wipped out a map and with every whistle he made was him telling us to make either a left or a right. I don't recall how many times he whisteled, but off we went. Into the dark and absolute quiet. There was no one around and absolutely nothing but closed stores.

Eventually we came across a woman who walked us part of the way and pointed into about the same direction the guy from the club strip told us to go to. We continued to walk and still didn't see it. Then we ran into a group of guys one of whom looked like he was ready to sweep Bridget off of her feet.YES!!! They spoke English too which was another plus. They guided off to this club. Once we got there French was thrown back and forth between the guards at the door and the guys that had taken us there. Somehow we all managed to get in except the guys that brought us there.

What happened was those same guys were trying to get in earlier but weren't allowedin because they didn't have any females with them. So when they came back with us they were wearing a completely different wardrobe. How is that for a laugh? I was wondering why they were so anxious to help us.

So we went in...there wasn't much dancing there at all. Every one was pretty much just sitting around. Then we went to the second tier and I noticed a naked woman who seemed to be a hostess. All of a sudden the "hostess" stood us and it was a man. AHHHHHH. NO NO NO. He was about mid 40's had on no shirt and these short short short shorts that showed half of his butt cheeks. I was ready to run for my life. He looked like he could have been a professor. It was terrible. He was wearing these outdated prescription glasses and had hair to his shoulder.

Soon enough he came over to us and bent over to talk so we could hear. I felt so bad for Karen. His butt was smack in her face. I'm surprised it didn't make her eyes tear like onions. He asked us what we wanted to drink and we said nothing. His response was, "Then you have to leave (pause) NOW" He sounded like Tarzan it was so funny. That guy literally pushed us out the door.

I swear that guy was Fabbio gone wrong. I would cry if I saw that guy in a commercial saying. "I can't believe it's not butter".

But there's more...So getting back home was the next part. We walked forever and by this point it's about 3 a.m. I was freezing. Remember I had no coat. Every bus driver we asked told us to walk to the next stop and catch a different bus. Imagine that happening 4 times. So we had enough. We looked at a map then found a help booth that by God happened to be open that early in the morning. So the bus we were supposed to take just happened to be there getting ready to pull off. They all hopped in the backdoor excluding me. Yes I was still standing there on the sidewalk. I looked and saw the front door still open so I ran on. My heart never beat so fast.

It was terrible these guys wouldn't leave Bridget, Hannah and I alone. So we came up with alias'. Bridget and Hannah were from England and I was from Spain. I must say we have great accents. They believed us. He kept trying to speak english and french to me and I had a lost look on my face. I repeated " Lo siento, no hablo ingles o francias" Imagine me trying not to laugh in saying all of this. It went great. Finally we got off the bus and they just so happened to get off at the same stop.

We waited for the 2nd bus. When it was time for us to hop on, one guy ran out of nowhere and kissed me on my cheek. It was so gross. He said if he spoke spanish he would marry me right now. I laughed so hard. Only if he knew I knew english better than he did. The other guy grabbed my arm and went for my cheek but when I turned away he bit my other cheek I couldn't believe it.But with little time to slap him I opted to just get on the bus before it pulled off and left me behind only to be stuck with those ingrates.

Then we needed to get on a third bus. We got on and there was no driver but plenty of people. All of a sudden the entire back of the bus ran off. We looked out the window and saw people running from every direction. A fight was about to break out. All of a sudden the police showed up and everyone ran back on the bus including the bus driver. At that point I felt like I was back home and it seemed so natural to me.

By 4:30 a.m. we were finally at our stop. Walking up Marx Dormoy never felt so good. Suddenly the green gate to the house looked gold. Home sweet home!

Until next time

Love
Alexia Shashara

P.S. We passed the original club we were trying to get to on the way home!