When in doubt, DANCE PARTY!

I have been going to the SOS Children's Village most Monday nights since I arrived in Gabs. It's an enormous orphanage with hundreds of kids split into houses of eight or nine and one "house mother". At first we were taking giant green grocery bags full of books, cards, and toys, and sometimes we could make it to one of the houses before the bags exploded from lots of grabbing, but most of the time couldn't. I now only carry one or two toys.

There are two houses that have the youngest kids, and one of them has five adorable little girls who are usually wearing old party dresses. My third week, I tried branching out to get to know some other kids, but I've since come back to the little girls, and they are decidedly my favorites.

SOS seems to have a pretty decent school, and we've since met some older kids who are now enrolled in the University of Botswana. The saddest part about the orphanage is the lack of personal attention each kid gets. When one pinches or hits another, the ten-year-old house brothers either intervene or they don't. For this reason, manners are basically non-existent, and I am lucky if our game of Go Fish goes two rounds without someone grabbing cards out of turn or knocking them all off the table. It's always the smallest and cutest ones I have to watch out for!

Last week I was so frustrated by their bad behavior, that I just gave up on scolding them and sat silently for a minute listenting to them bickering.

Then it came to me. I got up and just started shaking my booty. After a few seconds of shock that "Teacha" was acting like an idiot, all the little girls joined in, and their brother played the drums with pick-up sticks. We clapped, kicked, twisted, and spun. It was glorious and full of giggling. The host mom joined in as well and turned on the music video channel. Her booty was going nuts! I left that night wiping sweat from my forehead.

Tonight when I showed up with Go Fish, the girls immediately demanded a "dance party".