Dancing with Friends

I'm beginning to make some good friends in the community. One in particular is an old lady in our basket weaving cooperative. The ladies call her Mademoiselle for her charisma and spunk. She's not necessarily a great weaver... she's too old. But she does seem to be a great friend and member of the community. Our latest "thing" together is dancing. A few weekends ago we were at visit from the head of UNDP in New York. There were some kids dancing and I must have been stopping and swaying a long with them without realizing it. Afterwards while hanging out in a classroom with about 60 of our weavers, Mademoiselle comes up to me grabs my hands and starts dancing in traditional Rwandese style, encouraging me to join. So, I join her, laughing along. Before I knew it the group of 60 women began clapping and singing in a circle around us, filling the room with music and energy. We danced away for about 10 minutes and it was one of those experiences which makes my life here so unique. I'm barely able to converse with these women, but we can share plenty of meaning in a circle of singing and dancing. Now, whenever I see Mademoiselle around Mayange or Nyamata, she grabs me and we dance for a few minutes. We laugh and she tells anyone around her how I know how to do traditional Rwandese dancing.