happy birthday mamae!

today started off pretty ordinarily. a few of us from the hostel went out to grab a sandwich in bellavista. sandwiches are quite common street food here, but are different from the traditional kind you find in the states. the most common are either grilled/sauteed beef or pork (pigs are very popular in chile) on a typical chilean roll (white bread, soft in the center and a hardish crust, but not crunchy like french bread) with some toppings (for instance, an italian is: guacamole, tomatoes and mayo). they’re greasy and good.

then, we drove over to los dominicos, which is a small, enclosed area with artisan and pet shops…a strange combination. The area is also near a wealthy suburb with some more nice houses and views.

then, one of the guys, let’s call him roberto, suggested a visit to the a cafe piernas. ‘max’ and i had never been, so we figured we’d give it a try. cafe piernas are an interesting chilean past time. they’re typically open from 8am – 10pm and serve coffee, tea, etc. they don’t have any chairs, but they do feature scantily clad women. i guess it could maybe be described as something between an x-rated coffee shop and a g-rated strip club. some cafes are more liberal than others….but they’re all relatively cheap ($2/coffee), dimly lit and filled with cigarette smoke. we visited a few and, at 11pm, i finally broke off from the pack. the cafes were an interesting experience, but not my cup of tea…..as max and roberto can attest to, i was blushing a fair amount of the time. so, i caught the metro home while they entered a strip club.

the rest of my night was pretty tame, there was a good group of us at the hostel….including a group of brazilian girls who i was able to practice my portuguese with…..turns out i can understand portuguese ok, but can’t speak too well. as i learned the next morning, though, max and roberto had a much different experience. at this point i should probably mention a few things. both max and roberto are pretty smart and have/had good paying professional jobs. max is french-canadian and cannot speak any spanish. roberto is half ecuadorian but is an aggressive drunk. both had drunk quite a few rum and cokes that evening.

the pair paid a $10 cover and stepped downstairs to the club. they sat down and ordered some beers. the server requested the money, but max realized he had no more cash, so instead offered his credit card. they asked for his passport, which he didn’t have. the two sides argued with each other. it was probably a simple misunderstanding, but between the alcohol and the language barrier, things escalated.

after about 10 minutes, max finally just suggested that they simply cancel the drink order and leave. management did not approve of this solution and six bouncers immediately restrained them physically. the bouncers tried to separate them and drag them to the basement below. max was hanging onto the railing with all his strength, but the bouncers eventually ‘persuaded’ them to come downstairs and give up their shoes and jackets. well, they continued to argue, roberto was punched and eventually max signed a credit card slip. they then ran out (with their belongings, but minus $70 for the 2 beers which they had not drunk).

i guess the story might have been better in the first person, but i’m glad that i left when i did.