Day 5 - Wednesday March 24

We all woke up early again around 8 o' clock and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading out the door. From 9-10, we visited Club Eros, a sex club for gay/bisexual men, and we were given a tour through the club. What we expected to see was completely different from what we actually saw. Situated on Market Street, Club Eros inside seemed to be a nice cozy house with a nice lounge area and a gorgeous bathroom. If not for all the beds upstairs in the play rooms, it would have seemed like a normal hang out place for students or even a house shared by a couple of roommates. The more we heard about Club Eros and the more we saw, the more we were impressed with the establishment. Despite being a public sex club, its policy was adhering to safe sex practices, which included always providing condoms and lube. Overall, Club Eros was a pleasant surprise.

Then we headed over to Shanti, which was a neighborhood outreach that focused on providing a support system as well as making sure clients were healthy mentally as well as socially in order to help them prolong their lives and improve their current state of health. As an organization, Shanti seemed to have a decent program and we all learned a little bit about immunology along the way.

Following a quick lunch of homemade sandwiches, we visited the SF AIDS Foundation where we sat in on a Latino Education/Support group. There, we learned about the link between HIV/AIDS and drugs and interacted a bit with the members of the support group. Following the presentation, we heard the inspiring stories of the members and shared some of our own stories. It was an event that touched a lot of us very deeply.

We then rushed back to the house to prepare dinner for our special guest, Jay, who helps Stanford train members of HIVPact and had a discussion over dinner while having such things as stir-fried chicken and vegetables, naan and humus, veggie patties, and breaded chicken. Jay was surprisingly open about many topics and we covered many subjects from legal issues to self experiences. It was a great way to end a long day.

~ Louis