Motorbikes

I've been having so much fun exploring this city! I feel like I've seen so much already and we've only been here a couple of days. It's so nice to have this week off before we start working. Yesterday was a pretty busy day, we found out on Wednesday night that we were going to have to sing for the government here on Thursday morning. I guess the new band always have to do it so they government can approve them. They have never not approved of a band, but we still had to do it. So we got up at about 6:45 am, I don't even remember the last time I was up that early, and we headed up to the club to set up. We ran through the five songs we were going to do and got all the instrument plugged in and ready. The sound system is pretty nice here, except the equipment is very old. The microphone I will be using is held together with tape and there are pieces missing on it. The technician told me if it stops working I just need to shake it ha ha. But it works all the same. So after we got all set up we headed back to our rooms and got changed and then went back up to do the little show. I sang two songs, Trina sang two songs and then we did one together. It was pretty awkward because there were only like 6 or 7 guys there and they were all very old. They just sat there eating their breakfast and talking to each other, not even paying attention to us. After each song it was completely silent, but we made it through it and got approved.
After that we all went to breakfast and then went back to our rooms to sleep. Once I woke up Trina, Andrea and I went to dinner and then went out to this little coffee shop across the street to hang out for a bit. Once we were finished there we went and checked out a couple more malls, we found a cool arcade in one of them and then a bowling alley in another. And they were both within 5 minutes of the hotel, so cool! Then we went back to our rooms to relax for a little bit before going out again.
Around 11:00 Trina and I met in the lobby and took a taxi to this place called Crazy Girls. It was located on this street with a whole bunch of other bars and food vendors everwhere. We met our bandleader JD, and our drummer Jay there. We all sat outside at these little tables and just hung out. After about two minutes of sitting there I felt a tap on my shoulder and some woman holding a baby was asking for money. I told her no, and before I could turn around another woman selling books was in my face asking if I wanted one. I said no again, then another couple minutes later another girl came along selling cigarettes in a briefcase. It went on like this the whole time we were there, I got used to it after a bit but in the beginning it was so weird. After we were finished there Jay called his friend with some motorbikes to come pick us up.
When they arrived we each got on the back of one and took of down the streets. I was a little nervous after seeing the traffic and how crazy these people drive here, but actually since it was so late at night there was hardly anyone on the streets. It was so fun, they took us on a kind of scenic route so we could see some more of the city, well mostly just so I could see because they've all seen it before. It was a blast. They ended up dropping us off at another place called the Apocolypse, another club, but we just walked in for a minute and then walked down the street back to the hotel. It was a fun packed day!