THANK YOU, @macdaddifor all your tips. You have been the Supreme Advisor for my Medellin expedition, and you are doing it again for Bogotá. I should have thought of the tip on mate de coca. I knew that In Bolivia, Perú, and the northwest of Argentina the locals chew coca leaves to deal with the height's side effects. My brain just did not make the connection. Damn old damaged brain. The condition feels very mild right now, but as soon as I can get some mate de coca I will try it. Interestingly, I am hanging out with a group of Venezuelans and some of them are suffering soroche and did not even know what it is. I will bring this tip to them and my credentials as a pretentious-know-all-Argentinean will rocket up.
Going back to my reporting, I had a delicious authentic Spanish diner (pernil de cordero con papas) and a great time chatting with JM and his Catalan partner. It was almost Nochebuena, and very few patrons were sitting. However, they were delivering tons of orders, I saw many paellas going out. At 6:30PM hey closed the restaurante, JM's partner and the employees left, and we stayed while he would close the books for the day. Once he finished his business duties, we step to the back and have a quick first time in the kitchen. Hot.
He is Venezuelan, 30 y.o., living in Bogotá for 6 years now, former soccer player and boxer. He does not have the hottest looks, but he is hotter than half of the men I have seen in Brazilian saunas. And this is an ongoing story, as you will see. He learned about my preference for younger athletic men, and sent me his pictures from a few years ago, damn he was porn material.
Once we did our quicky, he invited me to join a group of friends to expend Nochebuena with them and then go to Chapinero for rumba, and I said yes. We called an Uber to go to our nests and at 10 PM we were meeting again at his friend's apartment.
His friends were all Venezuelans: a woman in his 50s and her daughter in her 20s, and a gay guy in his 20s. The home made diner was delicious (stewed pork, tamales, Russian salad, and Venezuelan ham) and the conversation interesting. Although none of them like Chavism, they did not emigrate because of political reasons. They encouraged me to visit Caracas together with them, and I am definitely adding the city to my list. Soon after eating we all headed to Chapinero.
By the way, there is some kind of magic chemistry between me and Venezuelans. Everywhere I go, I end meeting and having great friendships with them. I shared about the Venezuelan I met in Buenos Aires a few years ago to become long term FWB, and about the boy I met last April in Medellin who I am still in friendly contact. And there are many others who were just short term relationships. The pattern is always the same: we hook up, we have grave sexual and friendship chemistry, and I discover that they are Venezuelans in the process (because of xenophobia, often they do not share their nationality). Big older men like myself seem to be a fetiche for many hot younger men in Venezuela. If anyone has any doubts, I am NOT talking about transactional relationships.
So we went to Chapinero. We checked a bar called El Perro y la Calandria, famous for the music and the musical videos, but very few people was there. So we moved to Leo's Bar. The place was full, with several rooms with different music styles and ambiences. We settled in the terrace so we could smoke (yes, I smoke tobacco when I am traveling). As they invited me for diner, I invited them with whatever they wanted to drink. They chose Absolute vodka ($COL 170K), and the bottle came with abundant ice, lemon juice, and two jars of orange juice a server would keep always full. All this extra were included in the bottle's price, apparently. I say "apparently", because JM seems to be very popular and know a lot of people everywhere, he may have gotten us special treatment.
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When the drag show was about to start, we moved to the main dance floor. The drag queen was not the prettiest, but her show was one of the best drag performances I have ever seen. Started with lips syncing, but not a regular musical hit as usual. Instead, she edited a sound track with many excerpts from countless songs and TV or movies dialogs. It was really hilarious and engaging. The best part came after her performance, though.
She called to the staged for two men and two women, got an extra male volunteer, and announced a competition. They had two minutes to dance and strip. The two volunteers with the less clothes after two minutes, were getting a bottle of I do not remember what. After that, she announced a new competition. The two patrons who dance with more passion and energy for 30 minutes, would get another bottle. The dance floor got immediately packed with dancers who started to perrear and dance as crazy. SO-MUCH-FUN.
Originally, we intended to go to El Theatron after the bars. However, my friends started to check their social medias and found out that only four rooms were opened, although a lot of fun seemed to be going on, and decided to finish the night earlier. At about 3, JM and I said goodbye to the friends and headed to my Airbnb to have a full session after our rushed quicky in the restaurante. He left at 7am, and I tried to continue sleeping. The music from El Theatron was loud and kept sounded almost until 10am.
On Sunday, about 10am, I quitted trying to sleep. I was with alcohol hangover, very tired, and with very few hours of sleeping. I walk out to get something to eat and the Chapinero I saw was unrecognizable. 90% of the shops were closed. I did not find anything appealing and returned to my building to check the food offerings in the complex, trying to avoid ordering through Rappi. Most of food stands were also closed, so I was forced to try a typical dish I had never heard of: cayeye. It was ok, but I do not think I will look for it again.
At noon I was calling an Uber to join my new friends in Parque Simón Bolívar. By the way, I tried Cabify (legal) and Uber, and despite not being legal the latter's service is better. The day was sunny, and beyond my soroche and hangover, we walked a lot. I forgot to bring sun block and right now I am red but not in pain. After the walking, we had a little picnic, and fun with the three dogs with us. The Park is huge and beautiful, and it was full of families and friends relaxing and enjoying the shiny day. I found remarkable that all the dogs around were unleashed and playing with each other and after hours I did not witness any incidents.
Around 4pm the clouds started to look threatening. We decided to finish our outdoors day, and we made the right decision. Raining started when we were in our Uber. I did not have much time to get ready for the next plan. We all were going to play tejo, a game I had never tried before.
I was expecting a call from one of the friends around 6:30 to arrange the ride. When it was 7, I called JM to let her know that no one had called me. He shared that his friends changed their minds and were not joining. Instead, he was hanging out with his brother (27 y.o.) and his cousins. I told him that I should stay and let him enjoy his family. He responded "yo solamente quiero estar contigo". I could not say no.
I arrived to the Club de Tejo 76 and met his party. His brother with his wife, two cousins with their girlfriends, and one very young cousin who looked like a teen. Everyone else looked as in their 20s and very thughish and heterosexual. JM introduced me as his new boyfriend and they all were very friendly, especially JM's sister in law. We played and drunk. If you are curious, there are many photos of the place in their website. I just want to highlight this:
The establishment has a full bathroom in the front, where the bar is located. Besides, they have this caged sink that the players use to rinse the clay out of their hands and to pee. I could never pee there. The guy you can see in the picture is the teen cousin. We stayed up to 11pm, it was so interesting to hang out and make up with JM amidst this 100% straight environment. Not only straight, but also socially humble. Besides JM and myself, everyone else in our group seemed to be coming from quite humble and uneducated backgrounds. JM was paying all the bills. When my Uber arrived, JM gave me a passionate session of goodbye kissing in front of everyone, and I left totally exhausted and quite drunk (again).
Today I got up at 7am, feeling rested but with a mild headache. I think I am declaring a day of resting and catching up with my blog network, and perhaps writing something for my blog. JM texted me at 10 am, definitely he is giving me the boyfriend treatment. Although I love the unexpected turn this trip is taking, I do want to stick to some of my original goals: having time to rest and write. Tomorrow I am planning an expedition downtown, probably focused on the Museo del Oro and the Museo Botero, and perhaps something else like a stroll around La Candelaria. Hopefully, at night I am meeting with an adult entertainer for an interview. You will know who afterward (sorry, again because of the trolls).