The Embassy Awaits

In each of the past few years that we've lived in Saudi, and also in the time we lived in Ecuador, we have been occasionally invited to various events at the US Embassy. These are usually a lot of fun, pretty casual, and also different from our every day routines. Last week, Shannon, who teaches the parent of a high ranking official at one of the embassies in Saudi (not the US Embassy),was invited to go to an independence day celebration with her spouse.

Interested in the opportunity to break up the monotony of our last few weeks, we jumped at the chance. After some hemming and hawing, we found a babysitter who we felt comfortable with and got him all set up for the night. Our only two other date nights since the baby was born were both covered by family members. So this felt a little weird at first. But we got over it and got ourselves ready for the night. We got somewhat dressed up and met up with another couple of teachers who had also been invited.

When we arrived at the embassy, we quickly realized that our kind of dressed up look, which can mostly be described as 'business casual' was simply not going to cut it. We walked up to a red carpet and people donning tuxedos and ballroom gowns. We, the teachers, among the dignitaries, ambassadors, business moguls, and other important folk, stood out.

It was a little uncomfortable to be honest but we enjoyed ourselves. We had some delicious food, had some time out of the house, and got to immerse ourselves in what seemed like the clandestine gathering of various Bond villains. I believe I heard multiple conversations about keeping untraceable money in offshore accounts. All in all it was a fun night, and an opportunity that doesn't come across too often.