Everyone Dance!

We arrived in Zambia and after a short stay at a campground with zebras, impala, giraffe, and other animals that roamed passed our dorm at night, we went to visit a current volunteer in the Northern Province. We got to help a farmer with a fish harvest and visit some of the ponds and farmers that he had been working with. That night he invited some of the local village kids over to play the drums for us. There were two drummers and three dancers. One by one each member of my group was called out to dance. As more people gathered they were each called out to dance one by one. They particularly liked the dancing of one of the girls in my group and would call out "Christina dance dance," "Christina dance dance." If they didn't know your name, they would just point at you and say "this one dance dance," "this one dance dance." Then, "Americans dance dance" "Americans dance dance." Then, "Zambians dance" "Zambians dance." By now there were probably about 30 people (which is the entire village), so of course "everyone dance" "everyone dance." It was a great sight to see eight Americans stepping all over their feet surrounded by an entire African village of people dancing.

As soon as they had come, the village and the five boys were gone and the village was silent once again. All we could do was sit around our fire, laugh, and ask ourselves what had just happened.