I was out in Zone Quatre (that’s Zone Four in English) in Abidjan last Friday night and have been recovering from malaria ever since; surely it was unrelated. Anyways, we were meeting up with some friends to go and get what turned out to be some really tasty albeit costly steak at at joint frequented by what seems to be the entire UN mission in the country. Seriously, the parking lot is white 4×4 SUVs as far as the eye can see. As we had our starting drinks, things were fine. There was reasonable music. We were chatting. All was good.
As soon as we sat down to eat, WHUMP! The bass hit and didn’t stop until we left. I couldn’t even hear my mouth munching a fry. For some reason, every African place for expattery is typically drenched in ruminating, thick sound systems that play all the latest and greatest songs from back home that you were tired of six months ago or more. If I could go the rest of my life without hearing any of the following songs, I would die a happy man with much better hearing:
1. I Got a Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
2. Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
3. Womanizer – Britney Spears (yeah, they still play this)
4. Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas
5. I’m so Paid – Akon
It’s not that I don’t like pop music. When done well, I can even write blog posts about a song. It’s just that when thumping in my head and making me feel like dry humping a bull on a wall, I simply can’t take it.
2 Comments until now
Never stay in any bar / restaurant which isn’t 50%+ Ivorian!
Yeah, it was mainly just to escape a lot of recent frustrations and see some good friends who honestly didn’t know it got so loud later at night. They just knew the good steaks, which again were tasty and actually cooked well, but pricey.
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