Prom 2012 (...wait, what?)

Last Wednesday, I had the following conversation with one of my teachers, Ahmad:

Ahmad: "Sara! You are coming to Prom right?"

Me: "...what?"

Ahmad: "To Prom. You're coming right?"

Me: ".... to Prom?"

Ahmad (clearly becoming exasperated): "Yes! Tomorrow! You must come!"

Me: "to... Prom?"

My bafflement stemmed not only from the fact that there was a big school party the next day which I hadn't yet been told about, but also because who knew they even had Prom here?? Certainly not I! I agreed that yes, I absolutely should come to Prom. I asked what Prom was like and was told, "the kids are so dressed up! You won't know who they are!" I asked if there would be dancing and received a variety of responses ranging from, "NO!" to "Of course! We love to dance!" Baffling! I remembered from my own Proms that it's really all about the dress so I was looking forward to seeing my students dressed to the nines!

Two  of my best friends and me before our Prom! Seriously, it's all about the dress...

So I arrived at the church hall a few minutes after the allotted time on Thursday with absolutely NO idea what to expect. What I found was two of my fellow teachers chatting, a handful of my young men (11th and 12th graders) huddled uncomfortably in their suits and ties on one side of the room and a handful my young women (also the 11th and 12th graders) gathered on the other side. Of course, no one arrives on time in Palestine but most of the students and the rest of the teachers showed up within 45 minutes of the allotted start time.

The church hall was decorated with streamers, a DJ had set up camp, there were desserts on a table in the back of the room and there was even a lovely slideshow with pictures of this year's graduating class. As we waited for everyone to arrive, the students admired each others' nice clothes and some  were positively giddy. They wear uniforms each and every day to school, so I can only imagine how awesome it must feel to actually choose what they are wearing in front of their peers.

The stage is set!

Once the music started, I thought it would take a while for them to warm up to dancing, but, boy, was I ever wrong. Immediately the students hit the dance floor and started dancing. They danced around with lots of arm movements but zero physical contact between dancers, unless they were of the same gender. There were couples dancing together at a given moment but no one seemed to be partnered together (they certainly didn't arrive with dates) and there was lots of random swapping and group formation mixed in. All in all it seemed like way less pressure than the couple-driven, date-centered arena of my high school Proms.

The biggest surprise of the night arrived when one of the male students invited the teacher next to me to dance... and she did! What?? That would be an instant lawsuit where I come from. I literally stared on wide-eyed while they danced and then other teachers joined in. And then I was pulled in. Every part of my American self was saying, "No! No! No! Teachers do not dance with students! Danger! Lawsuit ahead!" But remember what I said about the dancing? Zero physical contact and it was essentially all group dancing anyway, so really, it was fine. I still tried to stay safely mixed in with my teachers, but it was clearly not a problem in anyone's mind. Two of the male teachers even created quite the show when they had a dance-off with the students.

Once I got over my initial panic that I was witnessing some form of sexual harassment, it was fun! Certainly more fun for the teachers-turned-chaperones than sitting on the side watching. It caused me to reflect on how we are so concerned about predators that we cannot even hug our students in the USA anymore. Of course, there are legitimate concerns about sickos who would do harm to kids, but it's refreshing to be in a place where the teachers can have totally appropriate fun with their students at Prom without fear of being sued.

Now those are candles.

After quite a bit of dancing, it was time for the cake. Now if you haven't seen a Palestinian birthday celebration before, you really should. Cake candles here are not those tame little ones we have back home, not even those "trick" candles that come back after you blow them out. No, no, here candles are more like little firecrackers.

Everyone enjoyed desserts and little snacks before getting back to the important task at hand: dancing!

It was such a fun evening to partake in! I am honored to have been invited into another aspect of life here!