Indecent Expatriates

We have a lovely new Canadian babysitter named Chanel, which means later-evening outings have once again become a possiblity for Billy and me.

Less eager to explore nightlife than we were to have a social life, I organized a reservation at a Mexican restaurant in Dubai for the other new hires and their partners. Per the usual, since this is a restaurant serving alcohol, we found it on the premises of a hotel, precisely on the 8th floor. Not all of the bars are tucked away in high-rises, but many of them are, and so the evening started with the ilicit feeling of going to a secret place. Since the drinking & driving laws are harsh in this country, i.e. one drop lands you in jail, I was drinking Perrier while Billy and most of the others had margaritas and Corona Extra. Though we were tired and it was late, the single and childless folks coerced us into following them to a night spot called 'the lodge'.

Given the name The Lodge, we had fireplaces and deer heads in mind, and visions of ski lodges with warm after dinner drinks. But as we got closer to the venue and watched the folks piling out of taxis on the curb, it became clear this was to be a night of short skirts, high heels and yes > plaid school-girl outfits. At first we were thinking gosh, we must be really out of touch to NOT know that plaid jumpers had gained popularity. But as the night progressed, and we got past the underaged local boys hanging out at the velvet rope just to look and whistle, and moved through the bouncers to find our names on the VIP list and into the circular open air dance pit, we learned that this was the night's theme - '80's school girl night'.

I must admit that dancing in the middle of a taxi-filled city of highrises, in the open air and to the music of my youth proved to be so much more exhilirating than Hot Toddies by a fire would have been. But I also must admit that I wondered over the impression we were giving to the teen hangers-on at the velvet rope, guys whose sisters aren't allowed out after dark, and whose families don't wear western clothes or even dance for that matter.

But we carried on, sweaty indecent dancing expatriates, many of us dressed indecently even by western standards, and made our plans to find the off-license liquor seller the following weekend.