Dancing In The Rain

            The timing of our arrival in Luanda could not have been more perfect. We arrived just days before the annual Carnival celebration was set to take place. I wasn’t familiar with the famous holiday but quickly learned of its importance in Angola when the streets became littered with Carnival banners and signs. Every restaurant, club, and bar along the Ilha seemed to be hosting a Carnival celebration. Adam’s dad Jamil bought us all tickets to Lookal, a popular restaurant and bar. Lookal is located right on beach making it a perfect place for a celebration.

Still new to the nightclub scene in Luanda, I had no idea what I should wear to the big party. Desperate and I do mean desperate, I turned to Adam for advice. He assured me that no matter what I wore, I would fit in somewhere along the spectrum of outfits that were sure to make an appearance at the party. Let’s just say, Adam hit the nail on the head.

After spending a little extra time on my hair and make-up and carefully choosing the perfect outfit, I was ready to see what this Carnival thing was all about. As we headed to the Ilha to meet up with everyone, I noticed a few raindrops splattering across our windshield. Even though deep down I knew that it was starting to sprinkle, I refused to let myself believe it. I had spent too much time doing my hair and make up to think that the rain was going to get the last laugh. The more I ignored the raindrops hitting the windshield, the more they seemed to make their presence known. The drops were getting bigger and falling faster the closer we got to the Ilha. By the time we reached Lookal, it was definitely raining and even I couldn’t deny it.

We walked into the club and looked for whatever cover we could find. Seeing as the club is located on the beach and open to the salty air, finding cover quickly became more of a challenge than we had anticipated. The beach location that once made it the perfect place for a celebration was now the worst place for a celebration, or so I thought. I was disappointed as the rain gradually became heavier until it was a straight up downpour. I looked around the club expecting the crowd to clear out and the party to call it a night early. But I was shocked to see the growing number of people in the club, despite the rain. The rain simply turned into another element that made the party that much more exciting!

I sipped on a glass of bubbly and watched as my surroundings transformed into the party and experience of a lifetime. Costumes flooded the club, Brazilian music filled the air, colored lights lit up the sky, clowns blew fire from their mouths, women donned beautiful headdresses, and people danced in the rain. I was in complete awe of my surroundings.  I knew that I didn’t just want to be there, but that I wanted to be apart of the celebration.

A couple glasses of champagne later, Adam and I were out on the dance floor. The downpour of rain drenched whatever bit of dry skin and clothing was left on our bodies. I couldn’t believe it. I was in Africa at Carnival dancing in the rain with the love of my life. Needless to say, a little rain (or a lot of rain in our case) wasn’t enough to ruin our party; there would be no raining on our parade. My first Carnival experience was one for the books.