A Trip Out East – Part 2

Johnny and Dancing

by Brian

Saturday was an eventful day in Pearl Lagoon. We began the day with a lecture from Johnny Hodgson about autonomy and the East Coast. Personally, I was amazed at the depth of his experience and insight. We were hearing from a man who had spoken to the U.S. Congress when he was only twenty years old and then went on to help write the autonomy law for the east coast of Nicaragua. Hodgson gave us a condensed version of the history of the East coast that was filled with knowledge and research. Every so often, you could watch his face and eyes light up as he touched on an important topic. He was one of my favorite speakers.

Later that evening the group returned to the Queen Lobster for mango juice and a cultural demonstration. The highlight of the night was the Palo De Mayo, which translates roughly to “May Pole” in English. Palo de Mayo celebrations involve lots of dancing, and we were treated to a performance by three young girls in various costumes, performing three different dances.

Audience participation was required for the second dance, and so one of the girls beckoned Jacob over. I’m not going to lie; Jacob epitomized the conservative white man dance. Hands and elbows in tight, swaying. Classic!  But they weren’t done. The next victim was Nathaniel. When Nathaniel joined Jacob on the dance floor, he must have decided to do his best impression of a stork. Arms flapping, he proceeded to strut around the floor with Jacob following suit. One of the girls had to take a break to laugh!  Moral of the story: Always ask Nathaniel to dance!