There is a place at the other side of the bay. You get there by taking the ferry and it´s open air.

More importantly, there are only Cubans there, except tonight, as we were the token tourists. The music was a bit of salsa, reggaeton and some pop (I swear I heared a mix of Usher´s Yeah at some point!)

It didn´t take long to make some friends, and although I managed to catch some names, there were too many to remember, so I´ll characterise them:
1. El bailar (the professional dancer)
Someone who takes his work home with him, because he was on the dancefloor all night. He was wearing a marine blue shirt, which gradually turned dark blue from hi sweating so much. He kept wanting to meet up and give me dancing lessons.
2. La chica
The girl friend all the guys danced with at least once, but nobody´s girlfriend. She spoke a bit of English and was tiny and very graceful. Incidentally, none of the Cuban girls there wore very short skirts, as you see in the tourist places.
3. el gordo
The fat guy but he could move with the best of them. He reminded me a bit of Shaggy, but less dark. He was terribly persistent with me as well and said he would come to Belgium to teach the Belgian people to dance.
4. El tranquilo
The quiet guy, with puppy eyes. Looked a bit like the singer of Faithless. He was a very gentle dancer and didn´t say much.
5. El jinetero
A big smile and a suave manner. He asked me to buy him a drink which I declined.
6. El padre
He looked scarily like Lenny Henry: a big teddybear with a big smile.

They obviously figured that as there were two girls with Andreas, at least one must be available, so they started pursuing with all their might, dancing to impress. I could have gone home with at leat three telephone numbers (or not gone home at all!) and two new dance teachers.

I noticed it´s not really done for a girl to dance alone. When El gordo went to get a drink, he passed me on to El jinetero, telling me to dance with him until he returned. Also, they don´t resent it if their friends have a go at the seducing game with the same girl.

Anyway, they remain just as friendly if you politely turn them down, so even after I explained to all of them individually that I had a boyfriend, they still danced with me.

At ten, we just about caught the last ferry back. It was a brilliant night.