Insomnia
Saturday, July 23, 2005 at 10:15AM Lately, I've been having trouble sleeping. Not because of the heat (although it's damn hot), or the fear of some nasty little insect invaders mounting a counter attack while I sleep (although I am sure that their evil plotting continues), nor because of homesickness or loneliness. None of these things are keeping me awake, not so much because I have adapted and overcome them, but rather because they can't compete with the discotheque.
Ha! You weren't expecting that were you. Neither was I. Who could have imagined that I would leave the noise and restlessness of a college campus in DC only to find my remote african village infested with many of the same sounds (including Britney Spears). But as I have come to learn, two industrious and entrepreneurial villagers have created quite a nightlife in the midst of a relatively un-populated desert coast. First there was a 'movie theater,' that is, a hut with a TV, VCD player, generator, and a small collection of Malagasy music videos and Kung Fo classics (actually, I don't know if they are classics, but they are old, or maybe just bad quality). Then there was another movie theater, but with bigger speakers. Then there was the Discotheque. A Friday through Sunday marathon of music, dancing, bare-knuckles boxing (though no one ever seems to get hurt), and moonshine drinking all inclosed in a large, rectangular, beach front animal corral (literally) that is reinforced with plastic tarps to prevent peeking by those who haven't payed the cover charge. This event is made possible by a cd player, 3 mammoth and blown-out speakers, 4 light bulbs, a megaphone, and a generator. I'm not making this up... that would be impossible.
The first night the disco went until 6:15 AM. I didn't attend as I was still enjoying the final suspenseful laps of a 3 daylong Intestinapolis 500. So instead, I lay in bed cursing the god that brought all of me, the discotheque, and "I'm a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie World..." together all in the same village.
Tomorrow, I suppose I'll do the only thing possible to keep from losing my sanity- join the party. And maybe I'll bring some of my own CDs.
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