March 8 - Woman's Day

March 8 - Woman's Day : La Festa Della Donna.

Last Wednesday marked a momentous occasion for me. I participated in a day dedicated to the appreciation of my 'kind'. Females, that is. It was 8th March, la festa della donna, celebrated extensively by the majority of females in Italy. Traditionally the women are given a small bouquet of mimosa - yellow flowers in a small cluster, that emit a sweet fragrance, and spend the evening without male company.

I've been in Italy long enough now to know that all good nights begin at a pizzeria. And Wednesday night was no exception. We now have a 'local' that, admittedly, we frequent far too often. Well, often enough to be recognised and often supplied with lemoncello gratis. The pizza is buona and the economically priced house-wine is definitely drinkable. Instantly we realised we were on the right track. There were no men in the restaurant, it was all females, in groups very similar to ours. In fact, if we stayed mute, we could almost have passed as Milanese - we were in the right place, at the right time, keeping the right company. A good start.

From there, it was onward and upward. Through a boyfriend, of a flatmate, of a friend, (it's all about connections) we had obtained tickets to 'Limelight', supposedly the setting for an exciting night's activity. The club promised three strippers, not-overly-priced drinks, and an atmosphere ripe for dancing. Perfect. I admit we were apprehensive about what may be involved in a stripping show in Italy, but we were game to sample it - all for the experience, of course.

We were treated to a show with four strippers, although one was definitely on the amateur side of things (both in physique and talent, povero). But the others three provided a good laugh. The dance routines were sharp, and the boys had the attitude to entertain, although with a club full of excited females, their target audience wasn't hard to win over.

Amongst the flips, lunges, and frolics, we saw muscular strength in a push-up competition, and an exhibition of fire stick twirling. All done shirt-less, obviously. And actually, I'm grateful the majority wasn't also done pants-less because judging by their top-half appearances, I think bottom-half viewing would have taken the enjoyment out of it (if you know what I mean). I'm still unsure if they specialised in stripping, acrobatics, or aerobics. Without getting too raunchy or going into too much detail, it was an entertaining spectacle, enjoyed by a mass of women celebrating their femininity. However from our standpoint of objective criticism, we judged the ability to do the splits (all the way down, in all directions) as being not so much sexy, as just plain weird.

But the night was definitely memorable, and judging by the quantity of females partaking in a similar event, we celebrated it the traditional way. Thankfully my friend's camera has the added capacity to record videos, so next year, same day, same time, when I'm back in New Zealand and saddened by the lack of appreciation for females, I may just pull it out and reminisce, about 'our' day.

As far as I am aware, la festa degli uomini for our male counterparts doesn't exist. Menomale because I'd hate to think what they'd get up to for celebrations if there was such an opportune occasion.