Not what I expected

I was sipping on my second Jack and Coke when the scantily clad Thai singers/dancers broke into “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” by ABBA and I noticed that the ambassador hadn’t gone onto the dance floor yet. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

The day before yesterday, my friend Luciano sent me a message asking me to come to his wedding dinner on the 28th. He had just returned from his honeymoon and he and Laurie were having a dinner to celebrate. They are actually two of the first people that I met here, we went bowling together on my first night. Anyway, he works for the Italian embassy and is a great guy, there was no way I was going to miss this. It was being held at the Taj Sheba hotel, a rather swanky place by Sana’a standards. Anyway, I got there a little late (I had been teaching late) and went to the front desk to ask where the party was. I then realized that I couldn’t remember his last name. I have heard it before, but it just doesn’t come up very often… “Um, I’m looking for my friend Luchiano’s party…” The woman just stared at me. “He’s Italian and it’s…”
“Oh, the Italian embassy party is in that room over there.”

My heart sank. As I walked into the room my fears were realized. It wasn’t a black tie affair, but everyone was in at least a sports coat if not an actual suit. I was in my best hooded sweatshirt and the jeans I was wearing had only small stains on them, you really had to look for them to see them at all… I don’t have any good clothes over here, I’m in Yemen for crying out loud. The Italian ambassador from italy was there along with the rest of the staff. Anyway, Luchiano made me feel welcome and Tami and I sat down. As we walked over to the table, we noticed that there was a bar. The waiter asked me what I wanted to drink and on whim I said a Jack and Coke. The glass he brought over was filled halfway with Jack Daniels, I told them to fill it up the rest of the way with Coke. They certainly weren’t stingy with the alcohol…

Entertaining us was a group of Thai women called “Simple Touch.” There were 5 of them dancing and singing. The band consisted of a synthesizer/sequencer and a tambourine. They regaled us with various power ballads from the 80’s and some dance numbers. They were wearing some, umm, interesting outfits. This being Yemen, they were covered, but with a body stocking. Most of it was fairly see through (with appropriate darker areas of course), tasteful wasn’t the word that came to mind. I think that Tami came up with the best word to encapsulate everything about the outfit.
Cameltoe.
Anyway, as she pointed out this was probably better than working in a brothel in Bangkok or Manilla.

The Italians certainly know how to have fun and it was infectious. The food was good and I drank more than I have in the last 7 or 8 years combined. I had two of those amazing Jack and Cokes, and after the dinner the waiter asked if I’d like a cognac. What else can you say to an offer like that? It was served in a proper snifter, it smelled and tasted divine. I also had some champagne at the end. I don’t drink much, or often, but I have always had a weakness for weddings.

It was during my second Jack and Coke when “Simple Touch” launched into that most improbable of Abba songs that I realized that I hadn’t anticipated this at all. But it was fun, and I’m glad that I could take part in celebrating their wedding. Thanks for inviting me guys!