Categories: uncategorized
Date: 26 June 2005 06:06:31
A fantastic evening last night of dinner and dancing with those from my TESOL Certificate class, and some of their partners, at Beirut by Night, a Lebanese dinner and dancing club. The food was fantastic, the conversation -- with the wine -- flowed, and almost everyone got up for a dance.
The food. I adore Middle Eastern food and the Lebanese in particular certainly know how to create taste sensations that leave you hanging for more. From tabouleh to kebabs to lebanese bread and hummus to a kind of cured beef to many other foods. Absolutely delicious.
Music from the Middle East is impossible to stand still to. You need to get up and dance: and dance we did! There was a live band with a drummer, fiddler, flute player and keyboard player, and they did a wonderful job of keeping the energy levels up and keeping the dancefloor full. At about 12.30, the bellydancer came out and showed us her skills, and she had plenty. Bellydancing is amazing to watch and I can only think of the energy needed as well as the amount of time put in to the routines. She then went around to each table calling someone up to the dancefloor with her -- can you guess whom my table suggested? Yes, moi. The table next to us encouraged me also, so off I went to the dancefloor with the beautiful bellydancer. She twirled, shook and gyrated while I, in typical male fashion, shuffled my legs and clapped. I think I may have raised my hands at one point, but I was rather transfixed by her dancing. I sat back down after a short time to "thumbs up" signs from my table.
It was an absolutely fantastic evening. Driving home, I was reflecting on what a close-knit group we are. Some of us knew each other from last year, but most of the students did the course full-time starting in March. In only a few months we got to know each other, realised we enjoyed each others' company and greatly desired to keep in touch into the future. Thanks be to God for the gift of companionship: humans are not meant to be alone, we are social beings. And all thanks be to God for the great gift of our fellow humans who bring joy, laughter and love into our lives. These are truly blessings.