The Mujra

I constantly have to remind myself that I'm in Africa...Whitney and I have started going for walks to get excercise and yesterday we were walking down Ocean Road right next to the Indian Ocean and sunset and it was so gorgeous, and every few feet we had to remind ourselves that HOLY CRAP.

Anyways the past couple of days have been full of new experiences. Like going to the Mall. Yes in Tanzania they have a mall and it's kinda like Metrotown except not at all. They had a few bigger stores almost like Target or Linens and Things, but not quite. One thing that is taking getting used to is the quality versus the price of goods. For example really horrible sheets that aren't even good enough for birch bay can run you close to $60 for a set. However the alcohol is really cheap so I guess that makes up for it.

Another really weird experience from the weekend was heading to the Mujra. Whitney and Yasmin had been talking about the Mujra for a couple of weeks because they went just before I got here. Now if you're thinking "Indian version of a gentlemen's club" then you would be correct.


Picture this: a non descript building, an empty hallway except for a guy with a portable metal detector and a red door. We go through the door and it's like walking into some guys basement but really big. Like a basement party you'd go to if you were still in highschool and living in a small town. There are mismatched couches and chairs all over and a makeshift bar in the corner, the room is divided in two with a large slightly raised dance floor in one corner and a smaller more private area closer to the bar.

Whitney and I are there with Kabba and Hanif - Kabba is like the King of Dar es salaam - and Hanif we work with. so these 2 white girls walk in with these older guys and everyone stares. We settle into 2 couches in front and I am just amazed by what I see. Girls "dancing" and by dancing I mean sort of swaying back and forth and making eyes at the gentlemen but no one is taking off anything. and instead of the gross old men putting dolllar bills in the girls g strings, they have to buy a beaded necklace from the bouncer who will then go hand it to the girl. should the gentleman want a "private number" well there's no such thing instead they can pay close to $200 to request a specific girl dance by herself to a specific song. Before we left this old guy in the corner bought 3 special dances and 2 of them were the same girl to the same song.

later in the evening the girls started to get a little more into the whole dancing thing, however I still use that term loosely. my favourite part over all was in the middle of 3 hours of Indian Music the only "white song" they played was "Alive" by celine.

took a few videos of the evening because I knew that no explanation would be able to do it justice.