General Adventures In Undesirable Towns
Trip Start
Apr 18, 2010
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46
100
Trip End
Dec 20, 2010
Barquisimeto, Northwest Venezuela, Venezuela
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Bugger. But nothing I could do about it, I was officially stuck in the hole in the ground that it Barquisimeto so I booked my seat and asked for directions to the cheapest hotel in the vicinity and they sent me across the road to a place called Hotel El Peregrino, not a bad place but at BsF$80 per night it was a bit more than I was used to spending although my room did have air conditioning (that sounded like a 747 with a goat stuck in its engine), a television (without access to the only channel in English, AXN) and a bathroom (with a toilet I had to take apart to flush).
It also rented double beds by the hour... obviously for people who just wanted a nice sleep before they got their bus... Ahem.
Anyway, whatever, I had no other option and checked in before heading out for a wander. I intended to drink a beer, go back to the room and catch up on some computer stuff. Photos, writing etc.
What is it about this continent and plans being scuppered at every turn? What actually happened was the following...
I found a large, dirty bar where you could smell the toilets from three metres away and sat down to drink my cheap beer. A fat chick sat down across the room with a guy, it was obvious they were talking about me, then she waved. Ok, fair enough. I raised my hand in acknowledgment and continued staring into space and sipping my beer.
Next thing, a fresh beer arrived at my table and the fella that delivered it indicated it was from the fat chick. Now I have this thing, I believe that if someone buys you a drink you at least go over and thank them for it, drink it with them before making your excuses and leaving. So over I went.
It was an amusing couple of hours, neither her nor her friend spoke any English and my Spanish doesn't extend far beyond obtaining accommodation, transport and food but we communicated, bit by bit. More and more beer kept arriving at the table and she made it clear she was paying but I couldn't work out why. Then through the language barrier we got onto the subject of partners, families etc.
I've been out since I was 15 and when I'm in a new group of backpackers for example, or a new workplace, I don't hide the fact I'm gay. If people ask about partners I'm open with the fact I'm with a chick, apart from in South America where, for the most part, same sex relationships are very much frowned upon. I say I have a partner but as far as they're aware, that partner is male. Not that that even matters over here when it comes to stopping people from hitting on you, mere boyfriends means nothing, not only do you have to be married your husband has to be here in 5 minutes and even then, they've still got 5 minutes...
Anyway, I slipped up with my Spanish and said I had a novia but before I could correct it to novio, her eyes lit up. It was established I was into girls. And so was she. Oh fuck, was that where this was going??
Yeah. It was. Never in a million years did I think I'd stumble onto probably the only out lesbian in the whole of Barquisimeto and not only did she want to sleep with me, she wanted to pay me for it too and tried to negotiate a price. Ha! Bitch puh-leeze, you couldn't afford me!
Buuuut I don't know how to say that in Spanish so I flashed my best smile, told her "no entiendo," thanked her very much for the beers and stumbled back to my hotel room chuckling to myself.
I've never been offered money for sex before but at least now I knew that if everything went tits up and I ran out of cash I could find myself a nice corner somewhere and start my own business.
