The Most Embarrassing Part of My Week-- or, How Mary Learned the Hula

So, the team has been going to the local Chamorro Village every week, which is basically a tourist trap that sets up once a week and sells all kinds of souvenirs and local food. But it's a great place to go and talk to people and hang out and get a feel for what's going on. A couple of weeks ago, the girls met a local dance group that does hula dancing, and they were invited to come along to practice the next week. I'm pretty sure that we surprised all of them when all of us girls showed up at practice that Friday.

It turns out that I need some work when it comes to hula dancing. But it is fun. And it's a really cool chance to hang out with locals and learn about stuff that they love, and hopefully show God's love to them. They are mostly young girls-- a lot of them are really little, and they just love us. They are always hanging on us and around us and are the cutest thing ever. Also, they dance circles around us.

The first week wasn't so bad; they took pity on us, basically. But week 2 was... well, it was all about humility. The four of us NZ girls were lined up in the back behind all of the little local girls, and we were trying to copy them, and we looked ridiculous. Which wouldn't be so bad, except that we were practicing outside, in front of anyone who wanted to watch. We'd sent the boys off to play basketball at the local court, and gave them specific instructions to come back ten minutes AFTER the lesson started. So we were a little bit sad when the van pulled up ten minutes before we were finished. Luckily, Caleb, who was driving, knew better than to make fun of us.

Picture this: a beautiful, starlit, tropical night... there are palm trees silhouetted in the background. Twenty girls with long black hair and brown skin are swaying gracefully to ukulele music and drum beats. And behind them, four awkward white girls are trying to keep up. That is how I spend my Friday nights. But it's worth it. I think something good might come out of it-- not counting that I MIGHT learn to hula. Time will tell...