Wednesday Night

Just realized I never published the info about our Wednesday night activity.

Here it is:

We were picked up in our dorms around 7:25 and lead to a classroom in one of the Montessori buildings.  Apparently, we had been invited to a dinner party with people from another culture.  All we knew is that to show respect, we had to remain silent and graciously accept the food and drink being offered and comply with our host(s) requests.  It was crowded in this room and we quietly waited.

Two women walked into the room and were making strange clicking sounds, which somehow was a communication of students to select.  What we quickly noticed was that all of the males were being taken out of the room in small groups.  So, I followed a group.  They were taken to Shakespeare and seated in the dining area.

There was strange music playing (chant-like) and two males (out of this picture to the right side) who were also clicking to communicate.  It appeared if the boys did something viewed as inappropriate, they would hiss at them.

Once all males were seated, females were brought in, one small group at a time.  They had to take off their shoes and socks (yet all boys had their shoes on).  They were seated on the floor.

A dish was passed around to only the males.  Once they had eaten, it was passed around to the females.  The same happened with a beverage (that was quite distasteful).  The kids thought they were eating worms and drinking something nasty (it was wet pretzel sticks and a mixture of teas) but were noticing how males seemed to be getting preferential treatment. 

When the meal was over, students were taken to their original location (one small group at a time) to discuss.  All females left first, then the males.

This was actually a culture that had a high level of respect for women.  The ground is considered sacred so all women removed their shoes and sat on the floor to be as close to the sacred ground as possible.  All men ate and drank first as a test for poisons.  So in the end, what appeared to be a very sexist culture was actually one that held women in high regard.  It was quite interesting to see their puzzled looks as they tried to figure this out.  Good job showing great respect for diverse cultures, Bulldogs!  Thanks to Ms. Schwabe and Ms. Hallman for their participation.