African Dance Class

Before Spring Break my African Dance class came to its end. Sort of. I took this class through Bloomington Parks and Recreation, and that has ended. But the instructor is continuing to teach the class elsewhere. So it hasn't really ended. But I have these pictures, taken by one of the Bloomington Parks employees, from our last class there.

Here are the drummers. They are AMAZING. The one on the far left works with Amzie. The guy in the middle, the black man with the hat on, is Dr. Djo Bi. He is from the Ivory Coast and he teaches the drum class that meets before the dance class. I can't even describe how amazing it is to watch and hear him play. His talent is astounding.


Here is another one of Dr. Djo Bi.


And here are the dancers! I'm in the left row, third one back in the green tank top. The instructor, Harmony, is the first one in the right row. There were several dancers that had taken African dance before, several who hadn't, and at least one professional dancer. So it was a nice mix of experience levels.


Here we are mid dance. I can't attest to why this picture is angled this way...


After the coreographed portion of the dance finished we form a circle and people can solo if they want. My friend Chloe took the class with me, so we did a duo. No picture of that, unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately...


This is the end. And these are our rear ends. I was a little concerned about the blood rushing to my head. I get quite red faced and sweaty by the end.


In short, I love African dance. I've always loved dancing, pretty much all types. But I also love the drums. The only common thread in the different music that I like is that they typically all have a strong beat. And like I said, Dr. Djo Bi and the other drummers are super talented. And hearing it all in person is awesome. There's a fantastic interaction between the drummers and the dancers - they are playing for you and you are dancing for them. So, this is a wonderful new thing in my life that I hope to continue forever!!!

Ode to Amzie

I'm feeling really proud of my husband, so I thought I'd share. This is a picture I took of him a random day when I thought he looked really cute.


It's funny, because I can't really explain why I fell in love with him. I just remember feeling amazed. We would talk into the early morning hours, but I have no idea what about. I liked the way he looked at me. I thought he was very mature because he had a hairy chest. And of course we had great chemistry. I was so relieved when I found him to be a wonderful kisser. My mother always said she didn't like the way my dad kissed. And I could never imagine kissing someone your whole life when you don't like the way they kiss!

We did hit bumps along the way, of course. There were times when I was so afraid that my mom was right, that he didn't love me. Mom wasn't wrong a lot, so it was horrible for a while having that fear looming. But at some point I realized that she didn't have all the information, so it would have been hard for her to really know the truth.

Amzie always considered himself a Christian, but he got more serious about it at some point when we were dating. And he never worried that I wasn't a Christian. He believed I'd come around. I have no idea why he believed that. It amazes me to no end how he had so much patience to just wait until I found things out in my own time. If I had become a Christian first, I no doubt would have badgered the crap out of him.

Amzie has never met a stranger. He got that from his momma. He can talk a blue streak. But what's cool is that he always finds out something that interests the person he's talking to, and because he knows a little about everything, he can carry on a conversation that interests them both.

Galatians 5:22-23 says that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." That's pretty much Amzie. Sometimes I catch myself being annoyed with him because he isn't getting up early to read his Bible, or whatever. But you know, he's way ahead of me on that fruit of the spirit thing...

He has lots of hobbies, that's another thing about the Amz. He loves car racing, freemasonry, guns, cooking, and - more recently - gardening and canning. Interesting combination no? And we're taking ballroom dancing now, so maybe we'll have to add that to the list. He also loves Tivo. But most of all, he loves God and he loves me and he loves his family.

So, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.