Not quite Cinderella

Friday night was supposed to be a rather uneventful night at the movies, but around lunchtime on Friday I received a text from Lani asking me if I could be convinced in to going to her school's ball instead. My answer? Why not?

Balls are a pretty big deal here, even having an official "ball season" that starts in January and lasts through until Lent.

Now, when you hear the word 'ball' you probably envision men with waxed mustaches acting chivalrous and women dressed in huge ball gowns and impractical glass shoes waltzing around. Sadly, this is not so, men wear suits and get drunk and though some women sport gowns straight out of Disney films, the general feel is like that of being at a rather large wedding. Basically it's just a party where you happen to dress nicely, buy a ticket and have a live band that alternates at random between traditional and mainstream music.

The one that we were attending was a Maturitní ples (Graduation ball), celebrating the students last year of Gymnasium (comparable to a British Grammar School or a U.S. College Prep High School, not just the end of gym class as the title suggests).

Normally, balls are formal attire but last year I attended an "Inside Out Ball" where the men dressed as women and the women as men. So I was interested in the idea of attending one where I actually got to wear a dress instead of an eyeliner mustache. I flipped through my closet, quickly realizing that while I did in fact have a dress I could wear, I was missing a rather important detail. Shoes! Somehow I had managed in a moment of sheer stupidity to bring ALL of my high heels back to Canada leaving me with a pair of rain boots, skate shoes and winter boots, none of which are ball-appropriate.

Cursing myself for my lack of foresight I put together a not all together ball like outfit by borrowing a skirt and shirt from Laura and ankle boots from Lani.

After a quick dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and a few glasses of wine we set off in to the night for my first formal ball in Czech Republic.

My accounts of the ball are a bit blurry but the highlights I can recount are as follows:

1. The boys were drinking peach vodka
2. Brian Adams was played. Numerous times.
3. I was kidnapped by a group of mothers who fawned over me, incidentally this resulted in my misplacing Lani for the remainder of the evening.
4. Lani's headmaster took every opportunity to creep on her
5. There was an abundance of male shoulder pads.
6. I agreed to go bowling with someone. Details, including whom, are hazy at best.
7. A number of the dresses would not have been out of place in Barbie's early 90's prom wardrobe.
8. We both fancied a kebab, but were too lazy to leave and get one.
9. Somebody was being insolent with regards to the Canucks so I smacked him in the head

And last but not least:

10. There was a dance off at the beginning between all the graduating students, including a rather elaborately choreographed Swan Lake number, tutus and all, I would like to take the time now to point out that only 3 of the graduating students were female and that none of them partook in this specific dance. Beautiful.



Photo: Lani and me ready for ball