Cultural Event #10

Romanian Dance Party!!!!




I heard through the grapevine (i.e. Lehn) that the lead singer of Gogol Bordello (Eugene Hutz, i.e. Alex from Everything is Illuminated ) was going to be the DJ at a local Eastern European bar in Chicago tonight. Lehn texted me to tell me that it didn’t pan out… it was actually a groupie/compadre of Hutz’s. Kelly and I decided to go anyway, and it was so much fun. It was at the Continental Café, which is actually a Romanian restaurant, and at night they have DJs and leave the tables there. When we walked in, I commented that I felt like I was walking into a wedding party that I wasn’t invited to, but that feeling quickly dissipated. The DJ was playing some rockin’ Eastern European music, so you have to bob up and down while kicking in order to dance to it. They also mixed in some Latin music and even some Bollywood songs. I actually DANCED (anyone who knows me knows that I don’t dance without being coerced… and I wasn’t drunk). No one there had an accent, but they all appeared to be first-generation people who had their own sub-culture, which still wasn’t weird enough to exclude us. I don’t know how to describe it, but I was really excited, and we’re making plans to go back during the weekend when they’re sure to be busier.