On the last night of camp we were all ready to celebrate. And in my opinion the best way to celebrate is to dance. Every time we played music during any of the activities the kids would take the opportunity to bust a move. But the music never played long enough to really enjoy ourselves.
When the night activity began there was no time wasted. The music started right away and the campers sure had their dancing shoes on. We made a song play list of the American music the kids had requested. That way this would be a true experience of cultural exchange.
As the songs played we switched back and forth between American and Moroccan music. We of course also went back and forth between dancing styles. This was very confusing for all involved. One minute I was shaking my hips back and forth trying to mimic the girls who were better than me and the next I was trying to use what original American dance moves I have left. The American music mostly just provoked a lot of jumping around.
After being in Morocco for the time I have I will say I didn’t expect to see a sight like that. The locations that Peace Corps usually works in are much smaller than Fes and much more conservative. Most of us would have never seen a dance where both boys and girls were present and they defiantly wouldn’t have been able to get as close as they did. We had multiple couples forming and kids genuinely and freely had a good time with each other.
Rachel, a fellow volunteer working with me, described the experience as one of those moments in time that is just so wholesome, once we had returned to our room for the night. Once she said that I had realized she had chosen the perfect word. Everything about those two hours was innocent and real. And for a while they were not Moroccans and we were not Americans but rather one group of people, who are the same, and who just love to dance. Dance is a language all its own and it is one that everybody can understand. It is refreshing to be able to communicate with someone with out having to search for the words.