Life is like a box of chocolates...

You never know what you're gonna get!

This week I somehow got connected with a teacher at the local university who invited me to the English department end-of-the-year celebration. So I found myself in my usual position of being the only white girl among hundreds. The whole thing was, well, hilarious. So I would like to share the highlights with you… (I wasn't allowed to take pictures at the actual event. I greatly regret this fact.)

• When I met this teacher at the university he introduced himself by telling me that he was going to be doing grad work abroad soon. When I asked him what he’d be studying he replied, “Feminism and Gender Studies.” I almost fell over. WHAT?!?! I overheard him call himself a feminist at the party also. Wow!

• So then we walked in to the middle of a debate on marriage between classes. It’s the age of old question of butchers’ and barbers’ daughters marrying the sons of princes. One student was proud to announce that “even in the United States of America black people are marginalized. And while they are allowed places to live, they don’t participate in society.” Hmmm….you sort of wonder where they get this stuff.

• Next an African student got up dressed in traditional ghetto gear complete with wide leg jeans. He gave an interesting rendition of “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys complete with swaying and waving of his arm back and forth to the ever so participatory crowd. I must admit that even I was swept up in the moment and sang along.

• Then a group of students performed the trial scene from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Have you ever heard Shakespeare performed with heavy accents that weren’t British? Well, I can testify that it does not make it any easier to understand. Also, consider the religions of the main characters and realize the hilarity even more…

• From Shakespeare to … more Shakespeare! Next up was a poetry reading competition in which students performed monologues from Macbeth, Julius Caesar and even “Ode to the West Wind” by Shelley. The most interesting part of this was a girl who read a poem from the perspective of an Iraqi baby who had been killed in a bombing. (Again, here I am, only white girl among hundreds…a little awkward?)

• After this the mood changed a bit in what was called the “Eloquency Competition” (I’m not sure ‘eloquency’ is a real word). This consisted of several students reading essays reminiscent of cheesy email forwards that flooded our inboxes constantly about 10 years ago. This stuff wasn’t even close to on par with Class of 1997…(you know, “Wear sunscreen. . . .).

• A comedy skit was the next order of business after another musical performance that was not of particular note. These two dudes came out with tattoos drawn on their arms with ballpoint pen and spiked hair. They were the Dumb and Dumber, Night at the Roxbury, Swingers type duo. The whole thing was about cat-calling and hitting on girls at the university. It was eerily similar to the hollers I get on the street daily so that was special. Besides that they also hinted at the national pastime here of “missed calls” and text messages. Young guys here often call number after number until they find a girl and then they persist in calling her at all hours of the night just giving one ring then sending text messages.
  

• After another musical break consisting of two dudes singing a love song duet without any idea of what that may imply in the majority of the English speaking world, certificates were handed out. The background music to this part of the ceremony was….the ever so popular….Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star! Wow!

• The whole thing wrapped up with the African student returning to sing for us this country’s beloved closing song to any event….The Titanic Song- My Heart Will Go On. That’s right. It is the ultimate in all things precious and musical here.

My day went on and on for hours after this ceremony with lots of other cultural experiences. It was by far one of the most representative days of how surprising things can be in these parts!

I hope you’re having an exciting week filled with lots of surprises!

Soon I'll have some more pictures from a drive we recently took.