A Unique Start to the New Year

Last night, El 3atal and I had a wonderful evening ringing in the new year with hundreds of people we didn't know. The night was full of interesting occurrences and bizarre sights. We went to Le Royale to see Raghab (and Yara I suppose). The ballroom was very nice, but was a totally different layout than what we expected and had been promised. We bought the cheap seats, which we were told were in the balcony. They weren't. They were, rather, on the side floor in the back. Neither of us was inclined to make it an issue and it turned out that the seats were generally fine. They told us that they would start serving dinner at 10:30 and so we headed over at about 10. We finally were served the main course at midnight... Talk about late. The food was marginal in general, certainly not what I was expecting and hoping for. However, certainly the interesting things were the people.

Our "neighbors" at the tables on either side of us were very interesting. On one side we had two very nice ladies who had NOT bought the cheapest seats, but were actually farther out than we were. On the other side, a couple showed up at about 11:30. I suspect they had been to a party or ten before they arrived as he was three (make than 10) sheets to the wind before they even came (really drunk for those unfamiliar with the idiomatic expression). It also appeared that perhaps he brought some with him and he had a small water bottle with a liquid that wasn't water in it. It appeared that he and his companion were really there more to see Yara. When the rest of the audience was sitting and enjoying Yara's music, this guy was up on his chair dancing in that loose-limbed, about to fall off way of the drunk. He continued through out her entire performance. He was, as El 3atal mentioned, a bit TOO into it.

Once Raghab came on, the formerly comfortable seated crowd got a little more excited. One table, in particular, decided that they need to stand on their chairs and table. Unfortunately, we were seated behind them and so made our way around to the front of them to see. It didn't last, they finally calmed down and sat. Ironically, if everyone stayed sitting, all seats would have been fine. As it was, they kept standing and getting up on chairs, making it impossible to see around them. Quite a shame if you ask me. After over an hour of complaining to everyone they could find, once Raghab started to sing, the ladies next to us got moved up to share a table closer to the stage. The funny thing about this is that they were right behind a group of standers and couldn't see anything from there either. One they vacated their spot, I suggested to El 3atal that we go sit on the columns behind their former table. It turned out that this was perhaps the best seat in the house. We got to sit in relative comfort and still see over the table and chair crowd. Very nice.

After Raghab had been on for awhile, we noticed a huge contretemps near the stage. It looked like a fight was just about the break out and a couple of guys were being forcibly separated. Wouldn't you know it was our neighbor who had, some time earlier disappeared in the direction of the stage. He was escorted (like by about 10 guys) out of the hall. He reappeared about ten minutes later and was kicked out for good. (Should I admit that I rather envied him as it was about 2:45 by the time that happened?) A few minutes later, I noticed that a man two or three tables away was flossing his teeth. Yes, that's right, imagine the scene: crowded ballroom, Raghab performing on stage, and man flossing his teeth. It was definitely surreal.

To top off the evening, on the way home, we saw one car pulling another with TWINE. No need for rope or chains, just get out some craft twine and get to towing! So, the new year is off to a very interesting start. Here's wishing you and your family a very blessed and happy new year.

Happy New Year!