A counter to the oyster bar

So, I've found out where the African-American population hangs out- at these ECU alum parties. My roommate (my black male roommate, naturally) found out about them through a coworker and helped out at a mas "que" rade ball for an ECU fraternity. I thought, frat party? No way. But, it was actually a ton of fun, way more fun than anything else I've been to around here. (Granted, that isn't saying a whole lot, but I'll take what I can get.) There were some people in their 20s and 30s, but the majority of the crowd appeared to be in their 40s, 50s, and 60s though with all the masks it could be hard to tell. Groups of women came in with elaborate masks with feathers and sparkles, and we assume they are sorority alum groups (and will be crashing their parties too).

My roommate I'm pictured with, and myself, were the only white people there. We were wondering how that would be given the tendency of people to stay with their groups, but everyone was very welcoming and friendly. We picked a table with three other people to sit at, and quickly became friends. Our new pals told us that different groups have these parties every few months, and that people come from all over our county and some of the neighboring ones. As one woman said, there are things to do here you just have to know where to look. Well, now we know and we'll be attending these shindigs from now on. It's funny, because though the back porch crowd is very welcoming and friendly too, I always find myself exhausted from the social strain after half an hour. The roomie and I had anticipated this in the new crowd as well and only planned on staying an hour at the party, but we were having so much fun and felt so relaxed we stayed a lot longer. There was dancing, which I was excited about, but perhaps since it was a bit of an older generation, it was just in couples unless they played some type of line dance number (Cupid Shuffle anyone? Is this just popular in the south? A few of my NW friends I've mentioned it to have had no idea what I'm talking about). But even though it was more couples dancing, it was in a chill, everyone having fun kind of way, and I loved it.