Christmas Rave!

Wow. I cannot believe it has been over a month since I last updated instead of making one long drawn out blog post about the last month of my life here, I decided it would be better to write several shorter ones. Therefore get ready for a lot of posts to be popping up here in the near future (Hopefully!)The first post is about December 3rd. Sarah and I attend a church service here every week that is entirely in Bangla. It can be challenging but it has also been a lot of fun. Well, the church was having a caroling service and the youth group invited us to please attend. I had been looking for ways to further my relationships with the church members especially those who are around my age, so I thought it would be a wonderful idea. They told us beforehand that there would be a lot of people and a lot of singing. I like both of these so I was rather excited to maybe learn some Bangla Christmas songs.
December 3rd arrives and we head out for the church expected to sit around and sing Christmas songs. As we approached the church we heard loud music and drumming pouring from the building. When we walked in the door we saw techno lights. We sat down both a bit awestruck wondering just what exactly we had gotten ourselves into. Soon, the program started and the first church got up to sing. The started with some drumming and a harmonium. Those not playing an instrument danced around them in a circle. It was fun to watch but with each passing group more and more of the audience joined in. I quickly realized that unless we left we would have to join in. When the ladies from our church were asked to dance a lady near us grabbed our hands and said, "You will dance." It was a command not a request.
Before I could respond, I was standing with a group of ladies at the front as they discussed which song they would like to sing/dance to. Then the music started and I did my very best to mimic what I had been watching for the last half hour. It was so much fun. Sarah and I danced, laughed, and tripped our way around the floor. Quickly after that the whole audience was dancing and singing together with the music blaring and the lights flashing. I quickly decided that I agreed with my local church that the best way to usher in the Christmas season is with a mega dance party.