Buenos Aires is just modern enough to occasionally trick me into complacency, and I forget that I'm really in another culture. And then there are times when the shock winds up and slaps me in the face. Last night was one of them. I went to the graduation dance of my host sister's high school, the closest equivalent we have up north is the prom, but going into it with that expectation was what really floored me.
The "prom" was held in a standard disco that had closed its doors to the public that night. It started at 10, so of course we didn't even leave until 11. By we, I mean the whole family; it's for everyone, not just the students. There was supposed to be food, so I didn't eat, which left me absolutely starving by the time the tiniest ham and cheese sandwiches I've ever seen were served at midnight. I lost count of exactly how many I ate, but it was much closer to triple digits than I'd like to admit.
The sandwiches were part of a cocktail-type setting, with the families all chatting with each other. That was pretty ho-hum for me, since I didn't know any of them, but there was a little comic relief when a long lost friend of my host family came up to me and was absolutely astounded with how much I'd grown. Then I pointed her in the direction of my significantly shorter host brother. Her guffawed response was enough to keep me chuckling for the rest of the night.
Around 1, all the students piled into decorated buses to take a lap of the city while shouting out their accomplishment. I've seen a few of these buses cruising the city before, so it was nice to know that wasn't just me choosing the wrong tour company. While they were gone, the parents and siblings went to a nearby bar to kill time until the students returned. It wasn't to hard to hear their return, and ran to meet them at the club. One girl was too drunk to make it off the bus, and once my host dad/doctor made sure she was ok, all the parents gave her a hard time. She'll be pretty embarrassed when she goes back to school.
At this point most of the parents went home to at least get an hour of sleep before work. My host siblings and I went back to the club to hang out with the students for a bit, and it looked more like a riot than any school dance I've ever seen. There was a hired group that was pounding beats out on marching drums with all of the students dancing around them. If anyone's seen footage of a Brazilian carnival, you know what it looked like. Then the band gave way to a DJ, and the place turned into an normal (invite only) club. We only hung around for a bit longer, since the people I was with actually did stuff during the day, but it was a lot of fun. Considering that my host sister hadn't woken up by the time I left the house at 4 (I didn't rise too early, myself), I'd be really surprised if it ended a second before 7am. I'd like to see that at my high school!
M
