We were sitting around the other night, chatting with Baraka, a local batik artist with a torso like that model from the calvin klein adverts, Ame, the cheeky receptionist of the dive centre and Dan, the smiley Malawian divemaster, when conversation turned to a local phenomenon: the "Sugar Momma". Sure, you've heard of Sugar Daddies but out here it's the other way around, spend a bit of time on this beach and you'll spot ropey older women, looking like they belong in Benidorm, probably called Sharon or Tracy, wrapped around a local beach boy. For them it's the "African Experience", the flattery of being lavished attention by a handsome young guy with a physique honed by hard work and meagre diet, for the beach boys it's a ticket out of poverty. For everyone else it's a source of great amusement. I don't know whether to regard it with sadness or amusement - i guess if they are both happy in their own way, then what the hey?
The Sugar Mommas were out in force at the full moon party last weekend. Before you imagine scenes of Goan revelry, hippies bopping to repetetive gabba music 'til dawn and poi on the beach, stop. Instead imagine the scene from the cheap drinks night in the shoddiest club in Leicester or Plymouth and you're spot on. Yup, both full moon parties here have failed to live up to their names, inspiring mostly horror mixed with amusement. Even though this is Zanzibar the formula is straight out of one of those clubs: tons of sleazy local men, pissed and making passes at anything with four limbs, whilst white guys in shirts dance awkwardly to commercial hip-hop. It's scenes like this that make me question humankind... is this where evolution and the advanceof globalisation has brought us?
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2 comments:
Yes. Yes it is.
Greetings James, excellent blog, serendipitously discovered due to your generous post on my own meagre efforts. I'm having trouble coming to terms with being in this country as well, though as I'll be here for around six years I guess there's no rush. The absurdity of the current political situation in this country notwithstanding, this is a great place to be studying, and I really hope that at some point you'll make your way over here and see what I mean for yourself.
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