la soirée d'Europe de l'Est

Last weekend was very cool and the coolest part of it was Goran Bregović's concert in Rabat. It was so surreal to listen to the Balkan music being surrounded by the minarets and palm trees. It was such an exotic and intriguing mix. I liked it. It's even more interesting because I usually don't like concerts at all. I can never really feel the atmosphere and moreover I am not comfortable with crowds. That time was different and it was a big surprise for me.

The another exciting thing was the fact the Goran Bregović's songs are sung in Serbian but there are also Polish version sung by the Polish singer Kayah who released and album with Bregović in 1999. So at the same time during the concert me and my Polish guest (Kasia) versus my 2 Slovenian guests (Alenka and Mira) were singing the same song at the same time in Polish and Serbian. That was so cool.

Another Eastern European aspect of the night was the fact that my French neighbor Romain has a new flat mate. His name is Rachid and he's half Moroccan and half Russian. His soul is more Russian than Moroccan though as he admitted. He speaks Russian more fluently than Moroccan or French as he was brought up in Moscow. He understand some Polish and I understand some Russian. His English is not very good but he can express himself and understand a lot. Same with my French. I also know a lot of Arabic words (not enough to make a conversation though). This means that our conversation are led as a mix of 5 languages. It's so cool even though it's very confusing. When I turn to another person I usually start speaking in the wrong language. It's so funny.

Being surrounded by all the Eastern European aspects I have felt kind of nostalgic about the region where I come from. A small doze of the regional patriotism has been released. Now, I'm listening to some music from Russia, Poland or other countries in the region (or Jewish music as before the WW II there was a huge Jewish community in most of the countries of Eastern Europe). This part of the world has its unique atmosphere that I simply adore (even though each part of the world is unique in its own adorable way:). I kind of can't wait to spend two days in Krakow, Poland in late June. It's the most beautiful Polish city with an amazing atmosphere.

I have to admit that - l'Europe de l'Est me manque! (I miss Eastern Europe)

:P