I am a Queen - Day.

My first introduction to the "european" culture or whatchamacallit, wait..let me break that down for you...whatchamacallit = what you may call it....

was when a good friend of mine, Mimi, who despite being Mozambican is very much Dutch in the way she conducts herself...as in like, if you make plans with her for 8 o'clock, you better be there at 8 o'clock, not that other people arent considerate of time, but it's just, like, a quality that many mozambican dont have, I could even go as far as to say that it is extinct in our culture. People have no consideration of time what-so-ever. But that's besides the point, Mimi invited me to join her at the Queens Day celebration. Queens day is a day where all the dutch people get together and like...act like total queens. ok, that's not true, but I wasnt even bothered to find out what it was about, call it ignorance, call what you may, but all heard was free booze and free food and I couldnt turn it down. So I'll leave it at your liberty to go on and investigate further on the meaning of the day...

upon arrival at the Dutch Embassy in Maputo,  I couldnt help it but feel so intrigued with everyones demeanor and the way they carried themselves...men and women, young and old, all mixed in the crowd talking laughing (I suppose the booze helps), as if there was nothing separating them from each other. There was a common feeling of respect between people.  

Luckily I had my camera to  distract me from my wine glass that kept getting refilled. 

I spent most of the night watching these two dance...

its kind of hard not watching them...too damn cute. 

Ok, honestly, the food sucks...it's all cold, and raw and crap. I mean at least the food they were serving there was shit..i ate whole bunch of some sort of meatballs just to keep the alcohol down. I like sushi, and sushi is raw... but like, sushi is good, and whatever they were serving there, is not my cup of tea.  I suppose it was a good break from the chamussas-and-rissois we get at every social encounter in Maputo. I shouldn't be so critical, I have no idea why I'm whining, but whining feels good right now...

People watching is my favorite sport. 

But sitting here in Norway, and looking back on this night, I should have probably taken more time to learn about the Dutch tradition. If you get a chance to participate in one of these events, socialize as much as you can, ask as many questions as you need to ask, learning about new cultures, like the language, food and so on makes you a smarter person and ultimately more open minded towards new ideas and habits. Dont be so quick to judge other people by the rawness of their food.... 

Tomorrow, May the 17th, is National Day of Norway, it is the day they celebrate the signing of their constitution. It's a huge family holiday, mostly focused on children's activities throughout the entire day. But, when the sun goes down, or not, the adults come out and show their patriotism. It's practically a free for all, that's what I have been told at least. All the norwegians get into town, to socialize and celebrate their constitution-ness through the act of drinking and dancing, and I will not be an exception. 

Tonight, I was invited to a party by a very special friend of mine, where he will be DJing. The plan is for me to drink as much of the free drinks as I can, and ask as many questions as I possible can, so that i can be ready to celebrate tomorrow with as much knowledge as possible. Good plan right?