Dance Party

Tonight, Sanakoroba got down! There were three parties in the town to celebrate the end of the "bac" (high school diploma exam) for the high schoolers. Jade's host brother Abdoulaye invited me to the dance. That was interesting in and of itself. Jade said that invitations are weird here. So, Abdoulaye asked me when I first got there if I knew there was a dance coming. I said yes. Jade later told me that that was his way of asking me to go with him. I was like you're kidding, he definitely did not ask. She was like naw, you said yes, so you guys are going together. It was sooo crazy! Anyways, the parties were all a lot of fun. They were also eye-opening. As for how they were fun...we went to the first party which was like a big block party. All the kids were there. Everyone formed like a big circle and then they chose like 4 or 5 kids to go inside. First they were doing a dance together, like how we have the Cupid Shuffle or Cha Cha slide back home. I was amazed! Like when in the world did they have time to learn these dances amongst all their chores! Especially the young girls! All these kids could dance. Then, they had what was like a dance competition. They would each dance, then the crowd would vote and one by one, dancers would be eliminated until there was one winner.

Now for the eye-opening part...We went to "la boite" (the club) where the high schoolers were partying. At first, I thought the girls inside were all prostitutes because they were dressed like the prositutes we saw before. But turns out, they were all the girls from the high school! In hot pants, tight shirts, mini skirts, short tight dresses, busty tops, high heels! It was crazy! I was so shocked, like are these the same girls from the daytime with taffe (skirts) down to their ankles!!?!? And they were dancing with the boys and ON the boys like they do elsewhere in the world lol. It was downright scandalous in this culture. They are close to Bamako though and they do watch t.v. in Sanakoroba so they see how even other African countries are less socially restrictive right next to them. And they are teenagers, so I guess that also explains their rebellion against the culture!

Night time is just so polar opposite than the day here though. And I just feel like they must feel like their daytime lives are an oppressive sham. I tried to reason it out at first like "oh, well I only wear certain things at night. I would never wear an evening gown or club attire during they day." But these girls are exposing parts of their body they wouldn't dare show in the day and doing things they absolutely are forbidden to do in the daytime. They must feel the daytime is so ridiculous and they can't wait for the night so they can be "free". Like you can tell if people agree or like something in their culture because they will stick to it under any circumstance. Like I know Muslim girls who like to wear their hijab (scarf) or cover up and would do that no matter what environment they were in. But the second they had the chance, these girls shirked their traditional clothes and habits like they were nothing.