Beats Update

19/6/08

A no-holds-barred Ugandan shindig went down last night at Lake Bunyoni. An assortment of teacher volunteers, hangout volunteers, and locals packed in small cloisters got cozy beside a gorgeous, "pearl" of a lake. The entire affair took place on a steep hill, with even the firepit slanted at an angle. Folks inhaled six or so crates of beer. Local pineapple-tinged firewater Waragi was absent. In its place, "africa's #1 Vodka" packets and Moramba, both of which are not recommended for non-E. african phenotype consumption. One looks like water and tastes like ato part cleaner; the other looks like auto part cleaner, and tastes like auto part cleaner.
Before we'd made a dent in the spirits, spontaneous drums and dance erupted. I met the preferred chillers on hand: Comfort, the amiable drummer and unmatched dancer, and Charity, the enthusiastic hymm singer/vodka packeteer. Tis always disappointing when you meet good folks but know you will not get to know them much thanks to modern manifestations of time and space.
Next day, we checked into the dank Teach-Inn facilities. Three hours of strenuous child immersion later, we bounced in to Kabele once again. The destination of highest anticipation: Match and Mix, the bar/dancehall for Friday celebration. A glorious venue for hours of grooves served until sunrise. Comfort led the way with a devilish looseness in his shoulders and hyperkinetic hips. His feet kept up with him, improvising countless hop-scotch sequences that reveals most contemporary U.S. hip-hop backup dancers as lame imitations of their hipper genre forefathers, and mothers. Other memorable Ukiga (local tribe) included Cle Malli, the Rasta with a shaved head, who bought me a brew in the name of freespirited Rastafarianism. He proved a good person to practice with at saying "Ethiopia" in as mystical tone as possible.