My first African Nightclub
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2008
1
32
225
Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
Kigali,
Rwanda
Friday, May 23, 2008
this trip.
I decided to return to the hostel I stayed at during my first visit to Kigali. On my way there, I ran into Lyndsay (for the third time) and Collette (for the second time). They were both staying at the guesthouse I was going to. Furthermore, I found out that the Australian girls I met in Uganda were staying across the street. This would be the 4th time I ran into Claire. It was like a reunion of some sort. I also met some new people. The Aussie girls were now traveling with a Dutch girl (who is a doctor). I also met a Dutch couple in my guesthouse who were doing research in Rwanda for their studies. There was also an American girl staying next door from me who was doing some volunteer work in the city. It was nice to meet some new people. All of us (except the Aussies) went out for dinner that night at a nice restaurant near 'Hotel Rwanda'.
After dinner. Lyndsay and I met up with the Aussie girls and their new travel companion. Since it was a Friday night, we made plans to go to this popular night club called New Cadillac. It was a cheesy looking place. It looked like a 1970s disco nightclub with really bad carpeting. As soon as you walked in, you couldn?t help but smell the horrible body odour. Here, the locals don?t put on body deodorant. It?s not part of their culture. I have gotten quite used to it but it was especially bad in the night club.
The locals love to dance. Most of the dance floor was filled with Rwandan men. Actually, most of the club was filled with men. It could have easily been mistaken for a gay bar however homesexuality is really frowned upon here. Anyhow, the men love to dance here. They really get into it. It is quite common to see the men dancing amongst each other. We even saw them grinding each other. I?m all for doing what the locals do but this was too much for me.
When the girls and I jumped on the dance floor, the men immediately targeted the girls. No surprise there. A lot of the men are very touchy and would grab the girls. It wasn?t in an aggressive way but a friendly way. The girls were quite used to the behaviour of men in African nightclubs and took it all in stride. They knew how to handle it. Lots of the guys would come up to me and want to know 'my story' as well. I guess they were wondering how I was included in this group of 5 girls.
Once in a while, I would leave the dance floor to see what else was going on. There was this area where I found guys playing pool so I just hung out there at one point. I had a Rwandan woman come up to me and ask me who I was with. When I told her I was with 5 girls, she gave me a surprised look. Then she leaned into my ear and whispered 'I want to be with you tonight.' I guess she was a prostitute. I told her I was with my girlfriend. She then told me that I could at least buy her a drink. I shot her down again and said that my girlfriend had my money. She wasn?t impressed with my answers and walked away, slightly embarrassed. That?s when I decided to call it a night. I stayed 2 hours in total. I was glad I went but I don?t think I will be going back to a local night club anytime soon.
Later.
