chain chain chain

i finally caved and joined a gym near my house. the $40 punch card allows 20 visits over the next month. i like this because each visit has a fixed value, as opposed to unlimited monthly membership where i would feel pressure to go every day to decrease the price of each visit. i also can factor in the intangible values of "having somewhere to go at night" and "meeting people." the staff guy who gave me a tour swore that this gym was different in that guys wouldn't bother me or hit on me. aha! i didn't believe him. it took 5 minutes for some creepy balding dude wearing all white to plop down next to me and tell me that if i was a teacher he would be like a schoolboy. if i were a teacher i would expel you.
i went to a dance class at the gym. it was half middle aged, overweight women in black leggings and half skeptical high school seniors in soccer shorts. i was in the middle. we were led by a svelte, gangly man in swishy pants who had tiny hips and gray highlights in his curly hair. he brought us on a veritable world tour of dance styles. in my opinion, the other women won the merengue, salsa, and cha cha numbers and i won hip hop and trance because they looked confused and i looked really with-it. i think the svelte gangly man won belly dancing. he always wins because he knows what's coming. also, you can't see his sneakers because they are hidden by his swishy pants. everyone knows that it's impossible to make dancing in sneakers look cool. as far as overall score, i think i lose, because i think i pulled something in my back. maybe fewer shakira moves next time.
the weather is changing - we are now in the breezes of october. it is lovely - strong refreshing winds with the same old bright sun. gorgeous. this is kite season, and people sell kites on street corners. i keep my eyes almost completely closed going through these kite gauntlets because i fear i will lose an eye. people here are wearing winter coats for this weather, although at night it certainly hasn't been colder than 65. brrr.
i ran into dary (from the thunderstorm) in the park on sunday and we chatted and he told me which dudes in the park were gang members. thanks, friend! like many salvadorans, it stresses him out that i don't go to church. however, he and others are greatly relieved to hear that i was baptized. at least i did something right as an infant.
in more gang news, there were internet rumors spreading last week that the gangs were going to launch an "offensive" today and randomly attack people. on these speculations, universities were closed, people stayed home from work, businesses were closed. as far as i can tell, no violence has occurred. it doesn't seem like the gangs would actually be behind this - if they wanted a random attack, they wouldn't schedule it and leak it to the internet. it was a strange day and hopefully it doesn't signal to the gangs how much fear they instill.