Dances with Drums

Tales of the Dancing Diplomat continues...

On a mission to save the world through dance again...but not solo this time. Juli and I are Cultural Envoys on a tour of northern cities in Honduras. We've been here for a day and a half and it's already been awesome!!

After arriving in San Pedro Sula and a "short" drive to La Masca, all the stress of US life melted as we arrived in my now-declared, second home. Greeted and received by people who look like me and speak Spanish, the sound of drums, and a view of the sea and beautiful mountains, I felt peace and joy. This Garifuna, Afro-Honduran, village is a gem. Virtually untouched by commercial tourism, we are being welcomed like family.

Our hosts, George Martinez and his wife Clara, have created a special performance for us; guests performers have traveled from two hours away to share traditional rhythms and dances with us in an evening program. Juli and I have Kool-Aid grins plastered across our faces the entire evening, so much so that our cheeks hurt. They hurt from smiling from the inside out. Both of us were raised learning traditional dances...and here we are dancing with drums again. We were so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, that we didn't even want to share our Hip Hop duet. But we did and everyone loved it.

We taught and were taught in a dance exchange for about 4 hours today...sweat our brains out and I could have stayed longer to keep learning and sharing. Jumping in the beautiful water and talking to George and other friends was like having "perfect" acutalized. It was a perfect day...and it was only the start to our trip.