Yesterday all the usual suspects (and some extra) were at Los Siete Mares. Frank had brought the boyz from the hood: Dani, Ray (habanero loco!) and Bernard but the last went missing later - I suppose he figured with three girls and four guys the odds were against him.

Dani is a very short, black guy, who, true to the cliche, is a great dancer. For some reason there´s always a handsome tall one and a a short one who can move.

He has four occupations:
1. fysiotherapist specialised in sports massage
2. student of English and French
3. learning to drive a coco taxi
4. dance teacher
Guess which one will make him the most money?

Noémi, Sofie and I tagged along to Atelier, where there was no one there but we just built ourselves a party. The music was R&B and smooth hiphop (US, not Cuban). Girls, going out with a bunch of Cuban guys comes highly recommended but this is not the time to be shy and timid. You have to be prepared to party hard, and to be wooed all night by all of them with a persistence that is unlike I have ever seen before. Saying you have a boyfriend has absolutely no effect whatsoever. Just mention about every three minutes you only want to be friends and have fun dancing, and maybe, just maybe, they will get the message. But don´t count on it.

The positive side of all this machismo is that they will treat you like a princess, making sure you get back safe and sound, making sure you don´t trip in potholes and (if you get the right kind of Cuban) insisting on paying your drinks. But you can never relax and let down your guard. Unless you are ´soltera´(single) and are willing to go further of course.

Also, be prepared for some really smooth talking. Especially the black Cubans specialise in this, I´m not sure why. And I mean really smooth: from the mating rituals of the average European female to whether you think if black men make better lovers to your and their personal favourite positions.

Dani was explaining some Cuban slang to me. I already knew ´borracho´, which means very drunk. He told me ´papi´ for men, and ´mami´, for women, is a way of saying honey, baby in Cuban Spanish. So when he says: Me entiendes (do you understand me) I need to answer with ´t´entiendo papi´. Right.
The equivalent for darling here is ´mi amor´, which can be said to anyone.

There was so much testosterone in the air that I feel like I´m growing a beard.

Anyway, Frank walked me safely back home and luckily I could sleep in a bit. Ivon booked the bus for me so I´m leaving for Trinidad tomorrow at 1 in the afternoon.

Salsa - la ultima vez... (the last time)
I got some flowers for Yoyi and the lady who always answers the door (I think it´s her house in fact). Angél had been up early and walking around a lot and Yoyi had been doing chores, so they both looked a bit tired, but then so was I after last night. It was good though, but I didn´t like having to say goodbye. Yoyi gave me her email address. More Spanish practice!

Ivon says I should get some pesos convertibles as people won´t want to accept dollars if the can´t change them before Friday, but I´ll go to the bank in Trinidad on Monday.