Clubbing in Africa

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  Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Monday, August 13, 2007

This last weekend was our first free weekend in Dar.  Barbara and Lori (our American profs) had left on Tuesday and we were finally free and alone in Tanzania.  It was a little scary to think about, but I got over it fairly quickly.  Wednesday was the Tanzanian holiday Nane Nane which basically just means that it was the eighth day of the eighth month. There aren't any really big traditions that we could find (aside from the fact that Kiswahili class was canceled) so a few of us decided that on our first free night in Dar and in celebration of Nane Nane we should find a local place with live music.  We consulted the Rough Guide to Tanzania which is pretty much like our bible and saw that a place called Mango Garden had live music on Wednesdays.  So Tyler, Brice, Caroline, Eva and I found a taxi (which was a great feat in itself.) and went to Mango Garden.  Unfortunately our bible lied to us and there wasn't any live music but we decided to stay anyway since we already paid for a taxi to get there.  And here is where we met Mama Octopus.  Oh yes, that is her working name and as far as I know she's not a hooker, just a bartender.  I can't remember her real name and even if i could, Mama Octopus is a way cooler than any other name she could possibly have.  She is this tall, thin, Masaai woman with poofy hair.  She sat down and had a drink with us and declared that we were all now her children and that we had to come back on Friday when there was live music.  And we were like, for you Mama Octopus anything ;).  She even found us a cab and gave us the driver's phone number so we now we have the number of a reliable cab driver which is amazingly useful.  So Friday comes around and we decide that we can't stand up Mama Octopus, and we convince Lindsey, Monika, Anna, Lona, and Andy to come back with us.  The band was amazing, I have no idea what style it was but it was really cool.  Mama Octopus sat down with us again and gave us all hugs and a table right up front, which was a little awkward because we were the only white people there and it kind of felt like we were saying we were better than everyone else even though we weren't.  I don't know its really weird. Anyway people started dancing and we joined in.  It was so much fun!  Everyone is so free and you can just move however you want and it was just great.  I really can't describe it any better than that.  Everyone was dancing with everyone else.  Tyler and Andy both asked Mama Octopus to dance which was hysterical.  I haven't had that much fun in a long time. After we had been there for a few hours we decided to try this club that one of our friends from the University recommended to us called Ambiance.  It was really crowded but also amazingly fun.  They mostly played Swahili hiphop though some Rhianna(or however you spell her name.  I really do hate that Umbrella song) and Aqua made it in the mix too.  I felt a little sorry for the guys because there was definitely a shortage of girls for them to dance with aside from us but they had a fun time anyway I think.  They also took the job of making sure that none of us girls were getting accosted very seriously which amused me.  They were always looking over and giving us the questioning thumbs up or thumbs down.  I'd rather them be over concerned though than not there at all.  A Kenyan prostitute cornered Brice at one point which added a bit of excitement to the evening.  It was just a great night.  And then we finished off the weekend by going back to Mikadi beach on Sunday.  I'm glad classes will start soon because then I won't be as tempted to spend money. 

Two weeks until independent travel time!  Zanzibar and Lake Victoria here I come!

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