The following are strictly personal views/observations and in no way reflect the views of the Peace Corp nor the federal government of the United States.
This past weekend I attended my first after school event. This event was similar to homecoming but with a class reunion twist. However, not all classes were invited only every fifth year in the past. To elucidate, the current graduating class of 2007 was in attendance along with the class of 2002, 1997, 1995, 1992, 1987, 1982, 1977, 1972, and 1967.
The evening was planned to begin at 6, which in Moldovan terms means that if the stars align correctly it is possible that the event might start around 7ish. The event got underway around 6:45 beginning with a series of presentations and performances. Each class had a representative who expounded upon their memories of their graduating year, most of the reminiscences consisted primarily of memories about the cow dying, how many piglets the sow birthed, and how much snow fell that year. Although, the farther back in history the graduation year, the more the recollections involved memories of communism and Lenin.
After about 5 minutes of recounted memories each class would then sing karaoke to a song which was popular during the year that they graduated from school. There are few experiences as unique as listening to Eastern Europeans sing “Hungry as the Wolf” by Duran Duran, of course, that was the popular song of the class of 1995.
Each time, after about three graduated classes had spoken then the current graduating class would do a performance. Their performances consisted of karaoke and dance performances that they themselves had choreographed. The karaoke sung by the current class was a mish mash of 50 cent, Celine Dion, Eminem, and the Black Eyed Peas. While, the dances had obviously been lifted from MTV Europe, because all the dances were overly seductive and involved some degree of progressive clothing removal. For example, one dance began with 7 girls dressed in men’s suits and carrying umbrellas, by the end of the dance they were wearing knee high boots and very little else while the umbrellas were being ridden in a fashion similar to a stick horse.
After all the performances and speeches had been completed then began the masa portion of the evening. The masa (feast) was the customary spread of mayonnaise based salads, salted fish, rachatoare (meat jelly), clatita (crepes), cake, wine, cognac, champagne, salami, cheeses, bread, cakes and candies.
After everyone had reached satiation, then began the disco for teachers and parents in the school gym. This was far more enjoyable than I had anticipated, traditional Moldovan music was played for a few hours and everyone partook in some traditional Moldovan dancing, all of which involved holding hands and dancing in a circle.
After the parent-teacher disco in the school gym concluded all the students proceeded to the village disco next door to the school. The village disco was a barn in its former life. It is one big empty room with wooden floors, one window, and a roof of questionable stability. On Saturday nights, two sizeable speakers and a computer are brought in and set up on a picnic table. The music selection at the village disco is a selection of rap, europop, techno and Moldovan traditional tunes. Thus, most of the dancing that occurs in this place involves lots of jumping, hair shaking, and holding hands dancing in a circle.
This past weekend I attended my first after school event. This event was similar to homecoming but with a class reunion twist. However, not all classes were invited only every fifth year in the past. To elucidate, the current graduating class of 2007 was in attendance along with the class of 2002, 1997, 1995, 1992, 1987, 1982, 1977, 1972, and 1967.
The evening was planned to begin at 6, which in Moldovan terms means that if the stars align correctly it is possible that the event might start around 7ish. The event got underway around 6:45 beginning with a series of presentations and performances. Each class had a representative who expounded upon their memories of their graduating year, most of the reminiscences consisted primarily of memories about the cow dying, how many piglets the sow birthed, and how much snow fell that year. Although, the farther back in history the graduation year, the more the recollections involved memories of communism and Lenin.
After about 5 minutes of recounted memories each class would then sing karaoke to a song which was popular during the year that they graduated from school. There are few experiences as unique as listening to Eastern Europeans sing “Hungry as the Wolf” by Duran Duran, of course, that was the popular song of the class of 1995.
Each time, after about three graduated classes had spoken then the current graduating class would do a performance. Their performances consisted of karaoke and dance performances that they themselves had choreographed. The karaoke sung by the current class was a mish mash of 50 cent, Celine Dion, Eminem, and the Black Eyed Peas. While, the dances had obviously been lifted from MTV Europe, because all the dances were overly seductive and involved some degree of progressive clothing removal. For example, one dance began with 7 girls dressed in men’s suits and carrying umbrellas, by the end of the dance they were wearing knee high boots and very little else while the umbrellas were being ridden in a fashion similar to a stick horse.
After all the performances and speeches had been completed then began the masa portion of the evening. The masa (feast) was the customary spread of mayonnaise based salads, salted fish, rachatoare (meat jelly), clatita (crepes), cake, wine, cognac, champagne, salami, cheeses, bread, cakes and candies.
After everyone had reached satiation, then began the disco for teachers and parents in the school gym. This was far more enjoyable than I had anticipated, traditional Moldovan music was played for a few hours and everyone partook in some traditional Moldovan dancing, all of which involved holding hands and dancing in a circle.
After the parent-teacher disco in the school gym concluded all the students proceeded to the village disco next door to the school. The village disco was a barn in its former life. It is one big empty room with wooden floors, one window, and a roof of questionable stability. On Saturday nights, two sizeable speakers and a computer are brought in and set up on a picnic table. The music selection at the village disco is a selection of rap, europop, techno and Moldovan traditional tunes. Thus, most of the dancing that occurs in this place involves lots of jumping, hair shaking, and holding hands dancing in a circle.
posted by Klharmon | 4:21 AM
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