Payback time….

So I got my payback for workin’ it like a gringa. The day of the fashion show I was getting an unbelievable amount of attention. I’m not used to having the spotlight on me like that and honestly it’s a little annoying. After a long day of it, its really annoying. Especially when you know its only because you have blue eyes and light hair.

So at lunch time, I get invited to tomar (pass the bottle) with the alcalde (mayor), the President of the fair, and a couple of other old men. All of them had to be between 45 and 65 years old. And ALL of them were fighting over who was going to marry me. At one point the alcalde told me he wanted to take me to his tierra (where he grew up) so I could meet his family. I’m pretty certain all four of these men are already married.

At then end of the day I was walking out with a group of people and I was just at the door when someone shouted for me to come back in. Nieve little me decided to be polite so I went back in to say hello. Hello turned into passing the bottle with the fair planning committee.

Thirty minutes later I found myself the only woman amongst ~45 men. There were two bands playing traditional Peruvian music and over and over again I was asked to dance. Me and my random partners always ended up as the center of attention as the others watched me attempt salsa, huyano, and marinara. I literally probably danced with 20 different men and I probably only knew 5 of their names.

I was exhausted, out of breath, and still with the sombrero and braids by the way. At then end of every dance they insisted on taking pictures with me. I’m totally going to start charging for photos. Do you have any idea how much money I could have made? I’m a small business volunteer, that should count as work right?

There were a couple of fun dances – one with my dad, another with my 75 year old campo grandpa. I was so scared he was going to have a heart attack. At times he has trouble walking and here he is hopping and jumping to huyano music. Can you imagine if my g-pa passed out while dancing with me??

After two hours of creepy old men insisting I dance with them, I told my dad I had to leave and I booked it out of there. The next day I got more smiles from random dudes than you can even imagine. The best were with ones with only a few teeth. I can only imagine where they know me from. The fashion show, the vacita, the beer and dancing…..who knows.