Last week on our trip in Lira, I was basically double-dog-dared to go up and dance, by my lovely wife. Though she may be a little risk-averse, she has no qualms having me go up on a stage in front of a crowd of about 150 Ugandans and strut my North American dance moves.
We were at an “Expo.” It is a once a year fair with two rides, some food vendors, and lots of merchandise vendors. There was also a stage about 8 feet off the ground with a full sound system, lights and a big display of Splash, the fresh fruit drink. On the stage were 5 children, aged about 8-12 competing in a dance competition for a carton of Splash juice, but we all know the real reward for winning would be bragging rights and well worth the sweat expelled during the competition. One of these dancers still had his school uniform on--hopefully his parents were not worrying where he was.
So I’m egged on to go up and dance. Surely, the organizers of this thing would let the White Outsider on the stage. And they did! Two young women ran the dance-off and had me go head-to-head against the mini-dancers. Boy did I ham it up. Well, you can watch the video and stop reading my explanation.
Click to see what the hoopla was all about.
When I got down off the stage I was swarmed, if ever there was the definition of the word, by the young kids in the crowd. They all just wanted to high-five or pound me. It was almost better than a walk-off home-run. I felt like a real celebrity.
