Sokkie?

Let me first start this post by saying I've never been a fan of dances or dancing or anything along those lines. I'm one of those people who go to dances and refuse to dance... yeah, I'm that person. So you can imagine how trilled I was to go to a South African Sokkie. So what is a Sokkie? It's not a term I had ever heard in the U.S. so I'll go ahead and give my best description for my American readers. In my English-Afrikaans dictionary it's simply defined as "An informal dance". That's really all I knew about it before I went.

I've been going to a weekly cell group (small group) as part of the church I've become involved with. It's only been a few weeks and I've come to really love the girls in my cell. We talk about anything and everything and I've picked up on three constants to these meetings; laughing, crying, and coffee. So what does this have to do with Sokkie? Well, every week they're always talking about going to the Sokkie on campus. It's right after cell and they always try to convince me to come. Because I really don't like dancing I've always got an excuse on hand to worm my way out of going. Last night they finally broke me down. My excuse just wasn't fast enough and they found a way in. "No, no, I don't want to stay long either" "I'm probably not going to dance anyways" "It's an important part of the culture here"- this is how they got me. I finally gave in to the Sokkie.

I went home and got ready for my first Sokkie. When I met the girls back at the dance I explained that I was simply there to soak up the culture and then I would try it out the next time I went (because I was sure there would be no next time). Upon walking into the room where they were holding the Sokkie I could tell that it was more than just "An informal dance". I would describe it more as "Swing dancing on crack". It was crazy! Unlike most dances I've been to in the U.S. there were tons of people out dancing (and it was clean). I saw some amazing dancers, it's definitely the most entertaining dance I've ever been to (think flips, twirls, and dips). The girls I was with all had lots of guy friends and it was really fun to watch them all doing there thing. Then, despite my very specific wishes, somebody decided it was a good idea to get one of the guys to ask me to dance. Against my better judgment and after the forceful encouragement of a gaggle of girls, I agreed. I believe my fist words to this specific gentlemen were "I'm sorry this is going to be a train wreck". Luckily he was a really good sport about the whole situation. He was really nice and he would explain things to me so I didn't feel like an idiot. The good news is I was so focused on doing it right that I didn't even think about how stupid I looked. Sadly the extra weight I left in Kenya + lots of twirling and spinning = frequent stops to make sure my pants didn't fall down. It's ok though,it was so much fun! It turns out I don't hate all dancing... I like Sokkie! Praise God that I've found people that can persuade me do things I don't want to do! I'm pretty stubborn so it's no easy task. At the end of the night it was good to be able to say I would go to another one (and actually mean it)!