sing and run. or, if you sing but then don't run, you could make some money.

on friday i met up with heather, loni, and hilary to practice a song we were going to sing on sunday morning at iccp's easter gathering. after practicing, the four of us were walking through town, enjoying a few moments of sunshine and conversation before we rushed off in four different directions to get on with our hectic lives. we were chatting in the hotel de ville square, surrounded by french people leisurly sipping at cafes, when one of the girls (and i won't tell you which one) had the brilliant idea that we stand in the middle of this busy french square and sing the song we had just practiced. the other three of us looked at her like she had lost her mind. but before we could stop her she had pressed play on her ipod speakers, and we had no choice but to sing.

and so we sang. we filled that square with 4-part harmonies and jazzy riffs, and as we sang, all our awkwardness and embarrassment at what we were doing disappeared. we just enjoyed the music, and forgot about the fact that what we were doing could be potentially humiliating. we forgot, that is, until the song ended, and we realized several hundred people were staring at us, and the crowd that had gathered was waiting expectantly for us to sing another song. we didn't have another song, so without a word, the four of us grabbed our bags and bolted. we barely had time to register the confused looks on our fans' faces as we took off. we song-ambushed 200 people, and then disappeared into the crowd.

during our supremely bizarre exit, we did hear some applause, and through the cloud of awkwardness we remembered looks of genuine enjoyment on people's faces as they listened to us sing. we decided that our jazzy quartet was something that french people seemed to be in to, and we were going to use that to our advantage. the next day, while the streets were crowded with saturday shoppers, the four of us spent about 3 hours standing in different squares and singing. we put up a sign and laid a hat on the sidewalk, and let passersby know that any money they donated would go straight to the FranceToUganda trip and would support AIDS orphans in uganda. we thought that, even if we just raised a few euros for uganda, it would be worth it. we had no idea we would actually make a good amount of money. we made more money singing on the street for 3 hours than our entire team of 10 combined could have made working at minimum wage jobs for 3 hous.

the moral of the story: sometimes you have to get over yourself, take a risk, and sing on the street. also, sometimes you have to take your awkward moments and turn them in to ways to make money for the kiddos in uganda!


p.s. even if you didn't get to hear us sing, you can still support our uganda trip! it's really good stuff! learn all about it here: www.francetouganda.com