7. Drums!

Before dinner today, there was a drumming lesson for everyone at the clinic, and I was allowed to participate. There were three teachers, or rather two teachers and one other man beating the bass drum to keep us all in time. We carried chairs and drums into the horses' pasture, and sat down in half a circle. Then we learnt the basics of the African drum, like where to drum to get the different sounds: bass (flat hand in the middle), tone (midway to the edge), and tips (tips of the fingers on the edge of the drum).

We then started learning different patterns and rhythms, while watching the setting sun. While we learnt how to drum and our teachers led us in singing different songs, Stina and Farah were dancing with the horses behind us. It was magical, with the rhythm, the sunset, and the horses running. But the magic was just beginning. As we progressed to harder combinations and faster rhythms, the sun sank into the ocean, and the dusk started gathering.

We sang, drummed and watched the view and nature around us, and after a while, Stina and Farah started dancing by us. The horses had apparently had enough, so the horse dancers and movers started dancing around the perimeter of our drumming circle, and invited those of us who wanted to join. They danced around till they couldn't any more, and we continued drumming, the beat taking us and guiding us through the dusk and into the dark of the night.

Then, just as the stars were twinkling to life, I started noticing other stars joining them. The fireflies had awakened with the stars. So now they took over the dancing, and they danced about in the air while we beat the rhythm to this great cosmic dance of the earth-stars. The drumming ended in a flourish, and then the dinner bell sounded. We were drawn back to reality from this magical land of rhythm and natural dance.

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