What Song Would A Kid In Malawi Want To Sing For a Talent Show?

Even more specifically, what would an eight year old girl want to sing for a talent show in Malawi?  Give up?  Mylie Cyrus's The Climb - Duh!  Yes, even in the heart of landlocked Africa the kiddos can't get enough of Mylie. 

Side note:  Many Malawians have a Facebook account, even though they don't have a computer! 

Anyway, what does this have to do with my living in Africa?  Well, I found myself not only being a co-chair in charge of a talent show but also a judge.  Actually, my 9th grade students voted me in as a judge.  They thought I would have funny comments for the show.  Don't know where they got that idea from.   Could be that I have trouble keeping my "observations" to myself. 

Guess who played Randy, Simon, and Paula?

Hard at work carefully critiquing each Mylie Cyrus song and dance number.

In the end, the winners of the talent show did not receive a trophy or medal but the great joy of shoving a pie in the face of a beloved staff member.  I think this is really an under utilized reward/incentive and should be implemented in the workplace.   Instead of handing someone a certificate of appreciation, how about allowing the employee of the month the honor of pieing their boss in the face. After all, most companies are not in a position to give pay raises. Talk about a boost to employee morale.  The students seemed to enjoy it at least.   

As far as my funny comments for the show, I'm afraid I'm not always impromptu funny on cue.  However, when I was asked what talent I would  perform if given the opportunity I replied with "parallel parking".  I got quite a few laughs on that one and I wasn't even being sarcastic.  Anyone else have a "talent" or "superpower" along those lines?

Drumline - Burundi Style

The Burundi drummers of the Dowa refugee camp in Malawi recently showcased their talents at ABCCA's International Day.  To be more exact, redefined the possibilities for a drumline.  Nick Cannon's got nothing on these musicians. 

Yep, playing and marching with the drums on their heads.

Watch the last drummer carefully, he beats the drum with his foot. 
Wow - on so many levels.

In case you missed the drumming contortions in the last video, the first drummer beats the drum with his foot. 

Balancing, playing, and dancing with a drum is no easy feat. 

huh?

No, you definitely weren't imagining things.

He made himself comfortable by sitting on his drumsticks.

These guys were the epitome of talent and creativity.

Christmas In Lilongwe

Celebrating the Christmas season in Lilongwe has definitely been different, but mostly because I'm not spending time with my family and friends that I've been celebrating with for years.  The parties are still a focal point around these part, so here is a tidbit of all that has happened so far. 

ABCCA CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

GLORIA:  The story of Christ's birth as told from the perspective of the angels in heaven.

Supervising from the  stands.

The English teacher actually wrote the program script and then utilized various Christmas songs for the singing and ballet portions.  Impressive!  Certainly, not an undertaking I would do well at. 

Of Course, I had to throw in a little video to give you an idea of what was going on.  Mary and Joseph were a progressive couple each from different ethnicity's.

FIELD HOCKEY PARTY 

It was a junk food fest. 

MY CHRISTMAS PARTY

I actually forgot to take pictures!

The whole event was a pretty low key potluck.  The idea behind it was to get together with some of our non-ABC staff friends to celebrate the holidays but we invited everyone.  The more the merrier!

LAURA CHINCHEN'S HOLIDAY PARTY

The Chinchen's founded ABC so they've been here for awhile.  It really feels like Christmas at their home with all of the decor up.  The evening was comfort food for my soul.  We munched on desserts (this even included a chocolate fountain), had a white elephant gift exchange (the funniest and most strategic I've ever witnessed), and we sang an unexpected and funny version of the twelve days of Christmas (imagine the possibilities for two guys acting out 8 maids a milking - oh, they went there).  



This was in a picture frame for the white elephant gift exchange.  It looked creepier and [insert your own adjective here] in person.  Mike and Tyler definitely got a few laughs for this one. 

FIESTA NIGHT

The Breuninger's, fellow San Diegans, hosted Fiesta Night.  This included homemade refried beans, tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole and a little pinata fun, too.  Did I mention everything was homemade?  Believe it or not there are still parts of the world without a taco shop on every corner.  Shame!

Jeannette explaining to the kiddos how to give a pinata a proper hit.

The kids line.

Jack Chinchen

Larry Brown

Some of the big kids gave it a go, too.

So far so good and more to come.  

Over Twenty Countries - One Day

International Day 2010 celebrated the diverse make-up of students and staff at ABCCA. While the student body is about half Malawian, the other half comes from all over the globe. The diverse background of my students is one aspect of ABCCA that I really enjoy.

My 9th Grade Homeroom - USA, Malawi, Portugal, Zimbabwe, & Ecuador. 

And no, you can't escape Gator fans even in the far reaches of  Africa. 

The day began with everyone dressing in a style that would represent their home country.

U.K. & U.S.A

Traditional American dress can be interpreted a whole lot of ways.  From this. 

To this.  Apparently, a puffy white shirt goes a long way. 

George Washington on International Day and a pirate on Reading Day.   

Parade set up.

The assembly included a little music from Korea.

Traditional Portuguese dancing.

Traditional music and dancing from Burundi.

(These guys were so amazing that I will be dedicating an entire post to it.)

Staff and students performing a traditional dance in chitinges
 (Malawian wrap skirt). 

Most Malawian women wear western style clothing, but some wear chitinges. 

What could possibly be traditional dancing for Americans?

Anyone?  Anyone?

Country line dancing to the Boot Scoot Boogie.
I didn't see that coming.  I should have known better.

Could have been worse.

It could have been ... the Electric Slide.

The assembly ended with everyone singing an African Christian praise song in Chichewa (Malawian language).  From what I understand this is sung throughout Africa with each country having its own version.  I want to say the song is called There is None Like Jesus in English but I am probably a little off on the translation.  Either way, it was cool seeing everyone come together and sing.

Of course, the whole day concluded with a mass feast of food from around the world.  Yum!!

It also included a Fear Factor moment, so I'll leave you with this.

Any guesses?  It deserves it's own post.

Tomorrow.