Perhaps a public blog is not the place to be talking about exploring the local nightlife, but for the purpose of cultural comparisons, I cannot resist! Last weekend on Saturday, I, along with a fellow volunteer, felt that we needed to finally frequent the local and only nightclub in Bukoba, called Linna's. I won't spend much time describing it, but we were both actually quite impressed by how modern the club felt, even though the music was several years behind. What I really want to focus on was my astonishment at the clothes that women wore. Fear not, I will not submit you to descriptions of extremely risqué clothing, because, by our standards, there was none. However, I felt immediately like I had stepped back into Western Europe or the USA. Bukoba, although a decent sized town by Tanzanian standards, is quite conservative in terms of dress. During the day, women are seen in long skirts (no knees showing), kangas, and tops that usually cover the shoulders. Not so in the night club! I saw short miniskirts, leggings, skinny jeans (and for those of you that are up on your fashion, I think I even saw a pair of "jeggings") that would make my skinny jeans, which I left in the US, look baggy. I was absolutely astounded. Although such outfits do not leave the night scene, it is proof that western culture is slowly making its way even to the small town of Bukoba in the difficult to reach Kagera region. Who knew the world could feel like such a small place!
Fascinating; it would seem very odd to me also to see such a "Westernized" look at clubs but not in the general attire of the day. Perhaps the Western attire is seen as part of going to a club?
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