On November 10, 2017, people interested in Burundi met in Freiburg for the Cabaret Buja-BW with the theme “Fashion and Lifestyle”. The Cabaret Buja-BW is a format for informal intercultural exchange between committed people in and from Burundi and Baden-Württemberg. It takes place four times a year. Cheilla Manirakiza was there. She is a nursing student at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and talks about the differences between Burundi and Baden-Württemberg on the topic of “fashion and lifestyle”.
The fashion is also very different. In Burundi, women often wear colorful and bright dresses in winter and summer. Fashion there is generally colorful, eye-catching and stylish. And with lots of little details like sequins, beads, animal patterns and much more. The people of Baden-Württemberg, on the other hand, are rather monotonous in their fashion, often monochromatic and not very well thought out.
In Baden-Württemberg, a fashionable accessory is a scarf or, now in winter, a thick wool scarf. The women here wear a scarf around their neck, the color of which usually matches the entire outfit. In Burundi, jewelry is an important part of fashion. Men and women like to wear a lot of jewelry. The heavier it is, the better. Women like to wear colorful earrings, men like to wear finger rings and bracelets. The accessory does not have to match the rest of the outfit but rather stands out in color. For example, a Burundian woman wears a light green dress with gold beads and then chooses red or orange accessories. We are a happy people, and we show that with our colorful outfits.”
