Melting into his arms...

First, I would like to just say, quite defensively, that I’m not a homosexual, even though this post will make you question that. I dress like a metrosexual, but I don’t actually like men.

Back in late September, when I still wasn’t as familiar with the local places and cool people, a warm Thursday evening the gang from Intercambio (language exchange) went to La Fiesta, which is a popular club in Loja. After dancing and flirting for about an hour, I went outside to get some air where Juan invited me to go to La Pileta, which is a square surrounded by bars and clubs, to which I replied “Why not. Let’s see where the night takes us.”

After dancing in a club for about half an hour, Juan said that we got invited to a party at someone’s house so we got into a taxi with some people and went to the edge of town to an elaborately furnished house, with an amazing sound system and lots of people drinking and dancing blithely.

I danced with Andrea, a girl I had just met, for a while and when I felt it was right, tried to kiss her. She pulled away and explained that Juan and I were the only straight people at the party. I don’t know if you have ever been to a gay party, but I would seriously recommend going at least once, for when the pressure of hunting is gone, you can just truly enjoy the company of others and dance to the music, without wanting to impress anyone. I haven’t been to many gay parties, just about three or four, but in my experience, all of them have amazing and danceable music, with a cheerful and electric atmosphere.

After this surprise I sat down next to Juan on the couch and we continued drinking and boogying to the music, but the vibe of the party was so good that ten minutes later I was back on the dancefloor. When one of the guys noticed that I couldn’t dance salsa properly, he took upon himself the challenge of teaching me. At first Andres stood next to me so I could copy everything he was doing (monkey see, monkey do), then he stood in front of me and we proceeded to dance together. At first I found it a little weird and uncomfortable, but when I got over my pretentious masculinity, I actually enjoyed dancing with someone who actually knew what they were doing. The roles of man and woman changed with every song so I would learn both. That was the moment I finally understood what women feel when a man, who leads properly, makes them feel. The feeling of moving in unison and blissfully listening to the music.

Now, I do admit, it was the gayest experience of my life, but in the words of Eddie Nero  “…that’s the day I graduated. That’s the day I stopped pretending and started being [an artist]. Because until you’ve savored both sexes, […], you do not know sh*t from Shinola.” It was wildly educational and I’m comfortable enough with my masculinity to say, I even enjoyed it, even though I prefer dancing with and dating women.

A.D.

(The names in the story have been changed for anonymity reasons.)