Happy Birthday!

How sweet of the State Department to throw a super extravaganza for my birthday on the night of the Fourth and during the day on the Fifth. My birthday is today, the Sixth.

Let’s start with Friday night. Although no fireworks could be displayed, the Ambassador’s residence was outfitted for the occasion. I don’t know how many red white and blue helium-filled balloons attached to colored lumieres were scattered across the lawn, but it was a visual delight. Set in the backdrop of large palm trees was one of those huge screens for viewing via power point, the latest and the best work that the embassy has accomplished here. Beneath that screen on a platform stood the acting Defence Attache in full dress, the DCM (2nd in command), the Ambassador’s wife, Linda, followed by Ambassador Garvelink. They greeted as many of the 1000 + guests as possible, all of whom had received printed and hand-delivered invitations. As we approached the lawn we were quickly beseiged by more servers of drinks and hors d’oeuvres than you can imagine. There were mini-everythings: crab cakes, hush puppies, pork barbeque, burgers, pigs in the blanket, tortilla wraps, and more, each representing a cuisine from an area of the U.S. The Marines performed the beautiful Color Guard and then the live jazz band really got the party going. All this occured between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m.

The Fifth of July? Another story. It started out with a frantic phone call from Linda. “Where is everybody?” She might have said a little more, but I’ve forgotten. When I arrived at the residence, the food people were milling around not knowing where to set up. That was weird, i thought, because we had made special arrangements last Thursday on site to nail down all these details. But for some reason, things had all changed with the big party the night before. By the time we figured it out, it was already 11:00 a.m. The doors were scheduled to open at 12:00. The electricity then chose to cut in and out and the electrician did some fast rigging for the schwarma machine.

The next thing was the tables. We were expecting 250 people but were only given seating for 100. So a stat order was made to get 15 more tables. Then there was the bar. The Bralima people delivered their drinks by 10:00 am. However, at about 11:45 every one of the attendents decided to leave the premises and get some lunch. So there we were until about 12:30 with enough beer to fill the fish pond and no one to serve.

Once the Marines completed the Color Guard, the National Anthem was sung, and the Ambassador and Linda both gave speeches, the food line formed. Unfortunately, now the power to the shwarma machine was shorting out with a loud “pop," flashing sparks and smoke every 30 minutes or so. The chef, as far as I know, still has all his hair, but it was as close to seeing fire works that we got. This, of course, held up the food line so it was about an hour or so before everyone was able to get their lunch. If anyone complains about waiting for great food that is free, let them talk to me.

Then the talent show. I just couldn’t resist, and since I’m on my way out, decided to dress up in the traditional Dutch cap and wooden shoes. I became "Janica" the English teacher with a little bit of a speech problem. I taught the group some of the fundamentals of the flag, encouraging them to keep working on their English. Need I say, that I did not win the $100.00 gift certificate to the Portuguese Restaurant, O’Poeta. O well. I then led the sing-a-long accompanied by the DCM on keyboard and Joyce Hightower, M.D. singing into the mike. That was the best part of the day for me.

The grande finale after all the kids had a chance to bob for apples was a tug-of-war with the Marines. It was a great ending to a great, but crazy day.

Happy Birthday U.S.A.!

Photo captions: Birthday Cake; MeJane with Linda, and Uncle Sam