La Bomba!

So last night I was invited to this event called La Bomba.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect and I was told you either love it or hate it.  Which meant I dragged my new friend Anna with me in case it was horrible.  First we went to my friend Nanu's house, because she has a dog and I had to get my dog fix for the day.  We show up wearing jeans and t shirts and the first thing Nanu says to me is, "you probably should have worn joggers," which I'm assuming meant sweatpants.  Then Nanu asks us if we would like shots of tequila. Mind you, it's about 6:30 on a Monday. We were a little unsure, but decided that if Nanu thinks we should have tequila, well why not.  After a couple of shots, we catch a bus and head to the club, with Nanu taking her shot to go.  Thats right, she put it in a plastic shot glass and drank it on the bus.

When we get there Nanu drags us toward a crowd of people who I recognize as couchsurfers I have met at previous events.  Everyone is hugging and giving the Argentine kiss, I just tell Anna to go with it.  Everyone is also drinking giant liter bottles of beer and before I know it, I've been handed one to share with Anna. After about ten minutes of mingling and pretending I know people, we are told to chug because it's time to go inside.

We entered this giant open space which reminded me of entering a football stadium.  There were concessions to buy beer and empenadas and then there was a giant entranceway into this room full of people jumping and dancing.  There was a huge stage with about 15 men dressed in red banging on drums and singing, with a crazy energetic man conducting them. Anna and I chose to buy beers then stand in the corner and watch everything for a little while.  I can compare the situation to a concert, because it was obvious a lot of people were on drugs, but these people had more room to move around in than a concert, so the dancing was amazing to watch.  Everyone was sweating and laughing and just having a great time.  We finished our beers and decided to join, though not nearly as over the top as some people.  Nanu grabbed us and dragged us to the middle of all the dancing, and for two hours we jumped around and apparently experienced the "good energy" of the place.

When La Bomba was finally over, EVERYONE was covered in sweat. Kind of disgusting, but it was cool to see people so unselfconscious about it. There was a La Bomba after party, but Anna and I chose to skip out on that until next time.  After all, it was only 10 pm on a Monday and I was just not prepared for all the insanity.  Next time I plan on takin pictures, because you have to see it to really believe it, but it is one of those cultural things I'm glad I was able to experience.