All the World is a Stage, with artist
This has been a busy week! One of the highlights was going to an art exhibit at our friend Rob’s house. A local employee at the Embassy had some lovely art for sale. This is Rehat with the painting that we purchased. It looks sort of African and sort of New Orleans jazzy. Many of her paintings are large calligraphy pieces with phrases from the Koran. We opted for something a little more secular.
There was more shopping to be had on Saturday with Kellee and Carolyn. After going to the office to check on visas, exercising, and a fruitless search for the kittens, I met the ladies for lunch at that little restaurant in the Indian lady’s house. We had a yummy lunch while watching a monkey explore the backyard.
Kellee was on a roll yesterday. She’s getting ready to leave, so she’s in a last minute shopping frenzy! Jewelry, furniture, mirrors – you name it! We had a blast and came home exhausted. I finally made it to the Afghan bakery where I bought lots of little goodies, including homemade crackers, biscotti, fresh goat cheese and buffalo mozzarella. And cherries are now in season so we pulled over on the the side of the road and bought boxes of them, too.
Last Sunday night we went to a very nice dinner party at Robert and Amanda’s – it was a going away party for Ed and Catherine. They cooked paella on the grill – it was delicious! Nice company, too. Robert and Amanda bought a villa on the Turkish coast that they rent out – it was fun to look at photos and dream about going there for a get-away sometime.
We were off for Memorial Day on Monday. After a massage and manicure, we had a couple of friends over who brought the dogs they are taking care of while their owners are out of town. I laughed so hard watching them play and run around together! The guys played board games and a good time was had by all.
Tuesday night we went with a friend for sushi which is always good! Wednesday I went to a board meeting for the American international school. The Embassy always has two board members and I was asked to do it for fall 2013. I think it will be fun – it’s a lively group who seems like they have a good time. Embassy employees can’t bring children here anymore, but other embassies do, plus there are a lot of international NGOs here. It’ll be fun to branch out and meet other folks outside the Embassy.
Friday night, we went to a going away dinner for Joe and Winnie at Sandy’s house. It was a nice dinner party with good food and conversation. Sandy’s house is incredible! She has been collecting textiles for years, as well as furniture and art from around the world. Her collection is really amazing – you could spend all night just looking at things. Plus she is a wonderful photographer so she has a lot of gorgeous photographs on display. Very interesting place!
Here are a few photos I took around town yesterday. You seldom see women outside of their house, but men are everywhere.
Saturday afternoon
Shoe shines