Let the dream begin

Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in

Let the dream begin

I was starting to get used to the Mexican pace of living at the stunning Villa Las Cumbres. The spreadsheet itinerary was soon forgotten about. Sim was a great host and kept asking me if I wanted to go do various trips and tours but I was content to chill round the pool, catch up on some rest and relaxation and drink gin. I think the previous four months was beginning to catch up on me, reminding me I was not as young as I once was. I’m nearly 34, which a friend kindly pointed out is “almost dead” in gay years.

Friday was a lazy day. I caught up with my dear friend Gail who updated me with the latest news regarding her family, my godson and godson-to-be. It was so nice to hear her voice. One of the things I am missing most while travelling is talking to my old friends back home. I’m making lots of new friends on my travels but it is nice to be able to speak to the old ones. After catching up with Gail I had a swim & a gin in the pool with Sim and Jamie. I figured that doing a couple of lengths of the pool between each sip of my G&T was a good way to exercise.

That evening Sim said we could check out the local gay bar. There was only one gay bar in Manzanillo and it only opened on a Friday and Saturday night. The place had only recently opened too. Sim explained that a lot of places had a tendency to open up for a couple of months and then close down, move to a different venue and re-open. Something to do with taxes I think. Anyway, our evening kicked off with some drinks at the house with Sim, Jamie & a friend of theirs, Omar. Jamie & Omar declined an invitation to join us so Sim and I went to get some food at a place called Caramelos. It was another place that you would probably not venture into unless you were local. Sim and I were the only non-Mexican people in there. The tacos were amazing and ridiculously cheap. Our whole bill for two huge tacos with beef and chorizo and two drinks came to about £5.

As we walked over to the gay bar Sim told me that Friday night was not a big night out for the locals. Most of them saved their partying until the Saturday night. The place was pretty empty with maybe two dozen people inside. We grabbed a table and a waiter came over to take our order. We got a bucket of beer – 10 bottles for the equivalent of £10. Despite the relative quietness of the venue there was still ample people watching. A couple of guys came in, dressed in jeans and t-shirts but with full on makeup on. Sim pointed out that they would be the drag acts who would be performing later.

Let your darker side give in

As we sat enjoying our beers and chatting about the various gay scenes I had been to on my trip the lights in the club all went out. The music was still blaring out and there was one strobe light providing a bit of illumination. The fuse had blown or someone needed to put a few more pesos in the meter. Nobody seemed too bothered by this turn of events. I guess they were used to it happening. It turned out that we were sat next to the fusebox as a couple of people came to check it out. In order to see what they were doing one of them produced a lighter, lit it and held it near the fusebox. I looked round to see where the nearest fire exit was, just in case. I’m no health and safety expert but checking a fusebox with a lighter didn’t seem like the safest thing to do. A couple of half made up drag queens came out of the room at the back to see what was going on. One tried valiantly to do his makeup while his friend used his phone to provide some light.

Eventually the lights came back on, the drag queens finished getting ready and put on a show. It was fairly amateurish in comparison to some of the shows I had seen but it was entertaining nonetheless. As the final act started a girl sat next to me got very excited about the song that was about to be performed. She turned and spoke to me in Spanish. I explained I was English and could only speak a bit of Spanish. It didn’t deter her. She switched to English explaining what the song was and who the original performer was. She tried to get me to get up and dance with her. I managed to avoid that despite her grabbing my hand & trying to pull me up on to the dancefloor. I mouthed “Help me” to Sim but he just sat there chuckling. Bastard. We took the opportunity of the crazy lady being on the dancefloor to head home. It was 3am after all.

Saturday was pretty much a repeat of the day before. The day was spent relaxing and swimming. The evening we had tacos again and then hit the gay bar. It was much busier than the previous evening and the music they played was great. It even took a few hours before they played an Adele song. Sim introduced me to a couple of his friends and we danced for a while. The club was very hot and loud. I didn’t even try speaking Spanish knowing that I would have little chance of hearing the response, let alone understanding it. Dancing with people you don’t really know and just smiling at them every now and again can be a very strange feeling. We finally left the club around 5am. Sim and his friends had a drink in the pool watching the sunrise. I went to bed.

“Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in” 
Lyrics from Music of the Night from the musical Phantom of the Opera