After exchanging some of our dollars for pesos and continuing up the street, a tiny nina began tagging behind us calling
"chiclets, chiclets!",
hawking little bundles of the gum to the touristas. It was no surprise to see
Shelly and the little girl
make fast friends, though neither understood a word the other said. Shelly taught her to high five, and, throughout our stay, as our paths crossed, she would hold up her tiny hands, remembering Shelly's lesson.
Once Shelly satisfied her maternal instincts, we moved on to pure hedonism at
The Giggling Marlin.
People of all ages arrived to see the show. "The show" not only included a floor show but also
the crowd.
Danny and I stood in line for temporary tattoos. Upon our return to the table,
a bandito
standing behind me, removed a shot glass from the shooter belt slung over his shoulder. The brusk bandito reached around, banged the glass on the table in front of me and proceeded to pour the warm tequila down my throat until he felt I had enough. The very young and brave allowed themselves to be strung up like
a marlin
to have drinks mixed in their mouths.
As I adjusted to the madness around me, a Latin beat arose over the commotion to announce the entrance of
the waiters
dancing themselves into a line.They were accompanied by one very steamy Latin singer. A fever took over the room as the show progressed. As three women from the crowd accepted the singer's invitation to join him, they became the willing subjects of the singer's wandering, but not yet touching hands. I was reminded of that game, "do you trust me?" The dance progressed, eventually pairing three men from the crowd with the women. By this time, waiters and touristas at tables were embracing and
mingling
in ways that wouldn't be imagined or allowed back home.
At the conclusion of the show, Danny told us we must move on to continue the evening into the wee hours of the morning.
THE PLACE
to go after midnight, he said, was
el Squid Roe.
Fortunately, because it was packed with writhing bodies, Squid Roe's dance floor was an open air courtyard. Surrounding the floor were various levels of caged balconies containing tables, each with a view of the throbbing crowd. Some must have come from a party, because two men speaking with young hispanic accents approached me and Terry, wearing costumes and masks. They joined us in watching the spectacle below.
Siesta
would come easy for me tonight.