That Neighbor

"Hi, my name is Big C. Some people call me Vanessa," were the first words spoken to my by any of my new neighbors when I moved to this apartment last May.

Big C is an RN, a drag queen, a loud-mouth, and a person who is prone to 11 decibel fits of rage and anger.

One of the first times I hung out with my neighbors as a group was when we all went to support Vanessa at her pageant. MMHmm Giiiiiiiiirl, lemme teeeeeeeeeeell you. It was quite a site to see. When Vanessa walked out there with all the sass and beauty-queen attitude she could muster (which was more than enough) I didn't know what to think. One thought I do remember was 'Grown men should never wear white evening gowns. Darker colors would work so much better.'

Big C adds character to our little family at The Nest, where most of us are simple college students with simple lives. He is constantly regaling us with stories about his 15 siblings, his ever-present lawsuit and the lawyer who is out to get him, and his "Paaaaaaaaaagints."

Today Big C came over to use my computer and printer. As he stepped in the door, he got on the phone with a friend whom he lovingly referred to as "Alright Bee-atch." As in, "Alright Bee-atch. You know I was the best at that Paaaaaaaaagint." Not only was Big C loud enough to send my cats cowering, but the young man on the other end of the phone was clearly audible from my safe distance of 6 or 7 feet away. I finally got what he needed printed. As he said "Thank you guuuuurl," he gave me a kiss in the vicinity of each cheek (one hit my ear).

Running into Big C is like hallucinating that the entire world is a little bit louder and a little bit more technicolor than it actually is. God bless 'm, that 'Bee-atch.'

Eso, Eso!

I finally started packing for my flight tomorrow at around 9:30 tonight. It has been a busy week and I had no motivation to be productive when I got home from work. The packing didn't last long however.

I stepped outside to get something from my car and saw that Fernando and all of the ELI kids were having a party upstairs. I went up with intentions of saying 'hello.' Fernando turned 27 at midnight so I hung out for a while. They are such a great bunch. They are from Venezuela and Japan. And of course, there are the gringo groupies. It is always a very jovial, relaxed atmosphere with this group. It really is a different feel than one would get at a gathering of Americans, where everyone is networking, gossiping, seeing how drunk they can get, and flirting.
I tried sake for the first time while I was there. I was surprised by how much I liked it. I was expecting it to have that sharp bite that you get when you drink cheap vodka. It was quite the opposite. In fact, it was about the smoothest alchohol that I could ever imagine drinking neat. I look forward to trying it the next time I have sushi (which will be soon, I hope).

Fernando gave a very endearing speech at midnight in three languages. He talked about how glad he was to have so many friends here and how much we all meant to him. He said that it was his best birthday ever. His broad smile said more than any of the languages could have told.

Good time all around.