The Meet Up and New Years Eve

“You don’t drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there.” ~Edwin Louis Cole

Saturday arrived and Julie came to town that evening. I was so excited to see her and go out. We ended up just hanging out at my place until about 11 and then headed downtown to the pub. We arrived and the club is divided into two major rooms. The entry room was where the Latino DJ’s were playing and the second room was the stereotypical dance club part.

There was no one in the first room, so we went to the other side. We had a drink, watched people dance and just surveyed the room. Julie and I must be getting old, because dancing the way most of these people were dancing, isn’t appealing to either of us anymore. There is just something about grabbing one’s ankles and shaking their rump in the air that isn’t too appealing. Every once in a while, it is nice to bump and grind, but I think you have to be with the right people and in the right place. Bumping and grinding with strangers, no thanks.

So after about half an hour of that, we went over to the other side and shot pool and listened to the music. Not many people were dancing and there wasn’t a huge crowd, so we shot pool for a while. There were sofas tucked into homemade nooks of the club, and one guy just perched himself on a sofa and stared at Julie’s backside every time she bent over to shoot. That was unimpressive.

Well, eventually Jose saw us and he came over and talked to us. He is a very nice guy. He shook my hand when we first saw one another. I introduced him to Julie and after we finished our game, him and his friend played a game with us. Him and Julie were on one team and his friend and I on the other. Jose and I started talking during the pool game and got to know one another a little better. His friend was super quiet and didn’t say much. In the end, Julie and Jose kicked our butts in the game.

It was kind of weird after that because I didn’t want to impose on him and his friends. I think he wanted to introduce me to some of his friends, but I don’t think I was ready for that. Julie ran to the bathroom and as he walked over to his friends, I headed to the bar to get a glass of water. By the time that was over, he was with his friends and Julie was back from the bathroom, so she and I grabbed a table and talked. I know that I probably should have gone over and talked to him and his friends, but I got nervous.

As Julie and I chatted, we watched the only couple on the dance floor dancing. There were incredible and you could tell the guy had taught the girl how to dance. After about 15 minutes, Jose came over and talked to us. We were talking about how incredible these two dancers were. He was explaining that he didn’t know how to dance to this type of music and I asked him to explain. The couple was dancing to a Caribbean form of music, and Jose had never learned that growing up. He had learned 4 types of Mexican dancing, but not Caribbean forms of dancing. His friend wasn’t spinning yet, so there wasn’t the opportunity for him to dance. His friend never really started spinning until after Jose left.

It was really interesting to listen to him tell about the differences in the music and how each is unique to a different part of the world. I knew most of this from everything I’ve learned studying in school, but to hear him tell it was really cool.

We started talking about things other than dancing and he leads an interesting life. He is the manager of a men’s baseball team here in town and they took first place in their league. He’s a very nice man and I hope to make better friends with him. He went back to talking to his friends for a bit and then popped by our table. He said that he had to go. His sister needed something (they seem to be a close knit family). However, as he was leaving he gave me a small hug and I said that we should do something together some time. He said, “Well, you know where I am.”

So I think I will probably see if he wants to go out for coffee sometime. I would like to get to know him a little more one on one before I meet a bunch of his friends. Let me gather my nerve.

Julie stayed an extra day and we celebrated New Year’s together. We watched movies, ate pizza, chili con queso and chocolate chip cookies. She had brought a bottle of wine, but it was a really strong wine. I couldn’t drink it because it was quite thick and I didn’t have anything to cut it with. Being the good post-college student that I am, I had plenty of liquor to mix with soda.

So it was a good New Year’s Eve. Julie and I had fun and I was so thankful that she came down for Saturday night. Such a wonderful friend. I hope you all had a wonderful New Years. Good luck in the coming year for all!