Blueberry Mojitos and blisters

So I went out dancing for the first time in years last night. I discovered a new drink called a blueberry mojito, and that I can order a rum and coke here and not only get rum (as opposed to rye) but it's Havana Club, yay! I also discovered that for a "dry" country, they sure serve their drinks strong here. I had been shocked earlier at the prices of drinks here, but now I realize that the $10 drinks here have about as much punch as 2 $5 drinks at home. So $40 still buys enough drinks to think that walking home in new sandals is a good idea. I now feel like I am 17 again, dancing half the night and waking up smelling like an ashtray.

I got to see first hand how NOT reserved the Middle Eastern culture is last night. At home, men only dance when they are trying to meet women. And there is a rule of how high your arms can go unless you want people to know you are gay. Here, they all dance however they feel like, simply because they like the music, sometimes by themselves, sometimes in a group of other men. I was also a little disappointed when we arrived "early" (around 11:30pm) and I saw that there was no dance floor. But once the place filled up, I realized there's no dance floor because there's no rules about where you can dance. There's no concept of the people who want to dance go to the area in that corner while people who want to stand stay in this area. Everyone is dancing to some degree.

I am getting a lot of emails from friends and coworkers back home concerned about my recent change in employment status. I am in as much shock as anyone else, but it happens to everyone at some point in their lives. I am fortunate enough to have a pretty good last site trip and trying to just enjoy it while it lasts.