Coffee Talk: Boasting Night

On December 3, the ELIC hosted another successful Coffee Talk. Students seem to be attracted to the coffee and kolo rather than the event itself perhaps, but, hey, whatever works!  We showed a music video of the Backstreet Boys (yes, I know they are from the 80’s, but some students still like this band) and asked the students what they think the lyrics were about. We wrote all suggestions on the board and then played the video again. Once participants started coming, we began the program. Gabre, an engineering student from Tigray, explained how Boasting Night works. The idea is to pretend you are the person you have chosen and stay in that role while you are “on stage”. Gebre chose to impersonate Wayne Rooney,  a hot-headed professional soccer player.  Once he boasted about his accomplishments, he was challenged by questions and comments from the audience.  Two other volunteers followed Gabre. One impersonated Meles Zenawi and the other pretended he was Emperor Tedros. The group suggested that we limit the time if the Boasters to 3 minutes and only allow 3 questions so that more people have a chance.