Friday night after school we came home and practiced our song for Miloš one last time with everyone who was going to sing. Then we got ready to walk across the village to the wine cellar where the party was going to be held. On the way to the party I went to Dana's house quickly to help her wrap one last gift for Miloš. Then we continued our walk with everyone who was going to sing. When we first arrived we all sat around and talked over some food and drinks. After everyone had arrived, it was time for people to give Miloš his birthday presents and say a few words. So we all lined up with gifts and took turns shaking his hand, telling him happy birthday, and giving him a gift. Then came the music, and people started to dance. I hadn't really planned on dancing much since I don't usually dance in the US, but then people started asking me to come dance. I made a rule for myself this year to say "yes" to everything so that I get to try everything. So of course I had to say yes to dancing as well. It ended up being really fun, and I was glad that I had gone. It got really hot since it was such a small area for dancing, so we had to keep going outside to take a break and cool off. After a few songs it was time for us to sing our song to Miloš. We all went outside and got on our headlamps so that we could see the papers in the dark room. We all walked back into the room ready to sing, and you could see the confusion and surprise on everyone's faces. As we started to sing I was happy that I could actually sing most of the song by now. After almost every line, people were laughing because of the jokes that were in the song. After the song we went back to dancing and eating. Then some slow songs came on, and those were songs I was definitely not prepared to dance to, since in the US we don't ever have slow songs at our school dances. But when Michal asked me to dance, I once again couldn't say no. Since he doesn't really speak English, and my Czech isn't great, I didn't know how to explain to him that I didn't really know how to dance. So instead I just repeatedly said "nevím nevím!" which means "I don't know". It took quite a few songs for me to start to get the hang of it, and I am by no means a good dancer, but it was still fun to try. Later in the evening we had an encore of our song for Miloš where more people joined in and sang with us. On one of our breaks from dancing we went outside and Zora introduced me to the owner of the wine cellar. He let me meet his dog Argo who quickly became my best friend. Finally around 1 in the morning they started to play songs from Mama Mia, which had been a surprise to me that I actually knew the words to some songs for once. Around 2 in the morning we finally said our goodbyes and went home.
I don't think I have ever danced so much in 8 hours.
another great post! dancing! staying up until late partying! sounds like it was great fun, learning, and community! yippee