1st Day at Site

December 5, 2016

I woke up this morning at my health site mate’s house, since our house was not quite fully prepared when we arrived. We started our day by greeting his neighbor. After he offered us some mangoes to eat, we were on our way to hang out with some ethnomusicologists from the University of Wisconsin. I know… How did I end up in a place with so many Americans, right? I still have no idea. They have some Mozambican friends (Dona Domingus) who live atop a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. We went to have lunch there. We took a walk along the beach and bought some lobster to take up to Dona Domingus’s house. After the emotional stress that was my and Ari’s journey yesterday, it was nice to have a picturesque relaxing day at the beach. Not going to lie, this is about the polar opposite of my expectations for a site in Peace Corps Africa. After a great lunch, I accompanied Ellen, the aforementioned ethnomusicologist, to her observation of one of the dance troupes local to our site.

I thought I was there only to observe, but, lo and behold, after I expressed interest in dancing, the women in the dance group wrapped me in capulana immediately and thrust me into the middle of their dance. As an outsider, this style of dance reminded me of an old-school jump rope routine. These women could express themselves with their own unique styles and pacing to the rhythms of the accompanied African hand drumming. (it’s best you see it for yourselves in the video below.) I was very thankful that the women accepted me so willingly into this tradition and shared their culture with me. I was reminded that dance can be something that crosses barriers.