Last night was the US Ambassador's forth of July party (yeah I know it was July 1, but the 4th is on Shabbat and the Ambassador did not want to offend anyone). It was a mighty bash. The picture above was taken with my horrible cell phone, as I did not take a camera. There was lots of free food and drink, McDonalds, Miller Beer, Jack Daniels, Jelly Bellys, Dominos Pizza - in short all things we know and love about the US. There were thousands of people and it was jam packed. We found a good perch high above the crowd where I got to suffer the minimum of touches by strangers.It really was a great party and no expense was spared. But, this is Israel, and even the US Embassy falls prey to the law of 80%. Firstly the invitation clearly showed the party running from 8-10pm. The program though, started at 7pm, so all who actually arrived at 8 were caught in huge lines outside and so missed Bibi's address (a plus, I know). The security was the tightest I have ever been subjected to in Israel. We were checked, searched, profiled, questioned and scanned by at least three sets of Shin Bet people. This caused a huge backup at the entrance - we obviously need more protectsia. As this was obviously the party to attend last night, every taxi driver that had ever given an Embassy official a ride has obviously wrangled an invite. He brought his whole family along with his brother's as well. So mingling amongst the finely dressed State Department officials were a host of arsim and freichot. This made for a lot of confused stares when the locals jumped lines and pushed in the food line. The fireworks were truly spectacular. The finest I have seen in Israel. But because there was no wind at all, the party goers were sprayed by the charred remains of the pyrotechnics. A thick rain of soot covered everything. I loved it.
This was one of the best people watches I have had in years. So thanks to Dave for inviting us, it was well worth the wait. I award the whole bash full marks - they deserve every bit of their 80% grade.
1 comment:
You are so right, the most incredible mix of fashions I have seen in a long time.
The girl ahead of us was wearing a tacky denim miniskirt and spiky brown heals, I couldn't get passed the skirt to see what top she was wearing. The couple in front of her were replete in flowing gold dress, perfect hair and jewels, suit and tie. The dude who rocked up in the huge limo cut the line. All in all, a really great people watch.
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