Tuesday, June 05, 2007

4 Cel


The priceless moment of the day came in the form of a song being played by the DJ at the former location of Bamboo Nest in Bugolobi where a new joint has opened, commonly called: Old Bamboo. (No one knows the real name of the place, and the new name is quite irrelevant as far as the local patrons are concerned.)

Dawn is slowly breaking.
Our friends have all gone home.
You and I are waiting
For Santa Claus to come.


Yes, it’s June. Yes, I was in a bar. Yes, they were blasting Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s contribution to the Country Christmas Songs album. That, alone, is not what brought a smile to my face or caused me to laugh out loud. It was the fond memory of preparations for a very Samoan Christmas in 2005 as two Palagi women rehearsed their dance routine that would never be seen in public in their small apartment. The intricate hand motions of Samoan dance. The perfect rhythm. And of course: the lip syncing. What a shame someone got sick before church that faithful day. Maybe it was the kind way of saying: You suck! And there is no way I’m gonna let you embarrass me in from of the whole congregation.


(I love the part of the Christmas story when Santa arrives in his sleigh.)

There’s a present by the tree,
Stockings on the wall.
And knowing you’re in love with me
Is the greatest gift of all.


Ready.png
Ready?
OK!

How funky is your chicken?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Moments like that in Kampala are what really do it for me... will never forget the time I heard a Ugandan girl wearing a fifty cent cat suit lip sing "I will always love you" and dance all provacatively in the middle of a field at a party in a village while everyone stood motionless in rapture watching and the generators roared in the background.

Ugandans love Dolly Parton.

Iwaya said...

some of us don't love Dolly Parton!