I Danced with Indians

After such an exciting and cultural experience as the birthday party on Saturday night I did not think it could be equaled, but Sunday did just that.  We were invited to go out to La Jungla, a wildlife sanctuary and rescue for a Christmas party for the Gnobe Bugle Indians.  Our friend Larry was going to make pizzas for the day.
It was held in the small community of Palmira- which really means it is a "wide spot in the road" with an Indian grocery store.  We had never been on this curvy winding road farther up in the mountains.  The road took us by a coffee factory.  It was about a 10 minute ride. 
We arrived at a wonderfully painted building and found several hundred Indians in the compound.

 We found 2 ladies doing face painting and they worked for 4 hours nonstop.  The kids loved it and loved me taking their pictures and showing them how they looked.  Dan a musician played key board and sang.  La Jungla has monkeys of all kinds, snakes, turtles, a huge fenced in area full of goats of all ages and the kids ( not pun intended) chased and caught and held them.  There is one horse and they were giving rides. 
I have never seen so many Gnobes in one place . They are such a colorful people with the women in their long dresses. 
Each person received a very small piece of cheese pizza and a piece of cake.  They stood patiently in line waiting for their turn for this treat.  It was in no means a meal but it was a treat.
Most had eaten when I sat down by the musician and for some reason I jumped up and started dancing. I danced over to several young boys probably around 10 and held out my hands to dance - they at first looked at me like I had 4 eyes or something.  Finally a young girl took my hands and we danced, and I reached for another and suddenly dancing with me was the "it" thing to do.  They did not actually line up but inched their way towards me. One little boy really loved it and did move his feet to the beat where as most just smiled at me and swayed slightly so I started twirling them so they had to move.  I have no idea how long I danced but the sweat was dripping off the end of my nose and my glasses had fogged up.
When the music finally quit I was soaked with sweat but do not remember enjoying dancing ever as much as on this day.

 
I have no idea if these people will remember this day like I will-these people who are so somber smiled at me and with me.  The parents seemed to enjoy  seeing their children dancing with the strange gingo woman. 

 I wish all of you could experience a day like this - it is one that will stand out whenever I think of my days here. This year when eating your Christmas dinner of turkey and dressing think about the Indians with a piece of pizza and cake and know that they were as happy with it as you will be with your meal.