San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua - Drum Circle

It’s been hard to do volunteer work in Central America so far without knowing the language. One day, we had an idea. We wondered what would happen if we just randomly walked into a school and asked if we could drum with the students. This being a trip of exploration, we decided to just go for it.

On a late afternoon, Keli and I walked into the first school we saw. We were led to the Director, and in our almost nonexistent Spanish managed to get an invitation within 15 minutes to come back with our drums the next day! We couldn’t believe how easy it was for two strange looking gringos to be so welcomed. (P.S. As it turns out, I’m technically not a gringo after all! The word “gringo” is only used for US citizens. Egyptians, and even Europeans for that matter, are exempt.)

We only had 1 drum and 2 shakers with us, but we had made some connections in town, so we were able to gather about 15 more percussion instruments, as well as a few water bottles. We had no idea how many students to expect or what age group. We left that up to the Director to decide.

The next day, we returned to the school ringing and rattling. The Director asked if we wanted to be in a classroom or outside on the basketball court. We said outside, which I think sealed our fate. All of a sudden we were faced with the entire student body of middle school kids, probably 300. And they seemed to be prepared for a musical performance, not a participatory drum circle. There was definitely a bit of momentary stage fright that we both experienced, but it quickly passed.

We started by asking for volunteers to join us in the middle. We got only boys at first. After some prodding, 3 reluctant girls joined. We passed out the instruments one by one, demonstrating the sound, and then offering the instrument to whoever wanted it. This exercise was a big hit with the crowd. They had a blast laughing and making comments on who chose which instrument. And before we knew it, we had a jam going that built momentum as each person added their rhythm to the circle. It was electrifying!

For the first half hour, we went through a few percussion games (thanks Beth .. we used some of your ideas!), all of which went over really well. All along though, I was playing the one “real” drum we had, thinking that someone had to keep a steady beat in order for the drum circle to work. But then something led me to experiment with letting go of that, at least for a little bit. I offered my drum to the first taker, and started playing a quiet shaker instead. Oh my God, were we stunned by what manifested! Not only could these kids drum, they rocked the house!

Having been freed from the leaders’ position, we both started moving around the circle, and having playful interactions with the kids as they played. Making music is one of the few things that make language barriers disappear in an instant. And that afternoon, we both felt so good about what we were doing, and the blast we were having. We’re definitely adding drum circles to our repertoire of activities we want to do more of as we travel.