From the Mitten to Mozam: MozamBustAMove

Out of all the Peace Corps countries I could have been invited to serve in I don't think I could have landed in a better place to fuel Jerome's incessant urge to dance. Lemme tell ya why. While majority of the population here have less than most I've know in the past they do love their music and someone's house will often have at least one decent speaker or set. And everyone loves to dance! I'm talking EVERYone: the kids, boys, girls, the ladies, and the men. Men here actually like to dance the most I'd say and they are all about getting in the center to show off their moves. It's an odd day if I don't see a group of kids together taking turns showing their stuff around a cell phone with a beat or a teenager doing his solo thing walking down the street with his headphones in. Our only channel that we get on our TV also just so happens to be a Mozambiquen version of MTV before it got lame with reality shows and actually showed music. But the afternoon show is usually a guest show where they bring on aspiring artistic and dance crews and let them get their 15 seconds of fame and show off their goods for a bit. And this show's set looks as though it is a slightly better funded version of Wayne's world, like a chic

Heck on a nightly basis in my house my brothers will steal my Mae's phone and dig into her library to put on the latest and greatest one hit wonder that has gone viral throughout the barrios and will just let it all go. I mean full body moves gettin in to it, stanki-leg, the whip, nea-nea, Michael Jackson classics, and even booty twerking (yes, especially my little brother loves to twerk). He busted his go to move at our sibling Halloween party in the center of the costume show circle. A couple nights at home we can't even make it through dinner without one brother stopping to bust a quick move because our Mae's ringtone went off.

But the fun doesn't stop with the local kids, because the adults have their own awesome dancing go-to's and games they like when the party gets going. For some insight I'll tell ya that most of the Mozambiquen dancing styles involve a lot of use of the legs, which they take that to a whole knew level. And it's all about getting your chance to show off your stuff in the spotlight for a brief moment. Circling up to a good song and taking 30 sec turns leaving it all out there is pretty much the norm. Nothing really like "you got served" stuff, most people are all pretty good at giving others a chance when they want it and props when they are deserved.

Though the most entertaining dance finominan and was also one of my first cultural nuances I saw upon arriving to Mozambique is something we have just been calling "can dancing." And it's pretty much exactly like it sounds. Once the party is good and going someone will take the liberty of kicking it up a notch by placing a can, or a stack of cans, in the center of the dance floor circle and everyone will take turns really strutting their stuff this time. All while attempting to getting as close as possible to the cans without touching or knocking them over while still maintaining that elevated level of swag to impress the masses. It's a honestly some of the most fun and definitely most entertaining type of dancing I've experienced. And like I said this was the one of my first cultural oddities that I witnessed, which was during our first night in Moz at our hotel in Maputo which was hosting the reception to a wedding and the bridesmaids had got the competition going while all of us newly arrived trainees watched in the fun from the patio. Knew there was at least one thing about Moz I was going to like at that point, and still is a country highlight now.

Teaching the local school kids the whip-naynay