Africa Day (i.e. The Greatest Day of My Life)

Yesterday, as I was on the bus taking me downtown to attend the massive "Africa Day" party in Tel-Aviv, I was really super excited. I was looking forward to speaking a great deal of French and even busting out some of my most polished Lingala phrases (like "your hair is so nice" and "my dad is from the Congo"). I was anticipating wild dancing and a whole lot of the blessed African food that comforts your very soul.

But then I remembered how crestfallen I had been upon entering the St. Patrick's Day "party" at the Irish ambassador's residence. Let's just say it wasn't as I had invisioned it. No drunken singing, no Cheiftans, no Jonathan Rhys Meyers and no fun.

So I came down from my little cloud of high hopes for the evening and was grateful to have chosen my smart little black dress and heels that wouldn't leave me standing out as I had at the St. Patrick's Day event. Can't go wrong with a black dress (even though I think I probably looked like a nun). I was ready for whatever was coming.

Well basically, turns out it was ALL I hoped for and much much more. I think I even used the word "paradise" several times throughout the evening to describe it. At this massive bash at a hotel in Tel-Aviv all the embassies from Africa joined together to party like it was 1999. And oh, did they.

Bernadette, a wonderful French FSN who works at the US embassy (she immigrated from France when she was 22 and holds both French and Israeli passports) managed to secure me and invite to the event (she used to work for the Togolese embassy) and I'm probably going to name my first born after her because last night was that great. I forgot what it was like to be around warm, inviting people. I've never had a hard time making friends, but it's been difficult getting close to people here (absurd Englishmen and crazy hot-blooded Italians aside, of course). And last night, I had at least two proposals for marriage (when I told my mom she said, "What, did you finally wash your hair?"), several invitations to people's homes (including the ambassador to Congo Brazzaville), and made about a zillion friends. 

Did I mention that I love Africans? 

I held my camera up during a really crazy dancing performance and took a shot of the crowd watching the performance. The little lady in the bottom right looking at the camera is Rose, a diplomat from the Ghanian embassy who was so sweet to me despite the fact I turned into a silly little 16 year old in the face of all the excitement. I was loving all the amazing dresses the women were wearing. My safe little black dress made me stand out just as my loud green dress made me stand out on St, Patrick's Day. I guess I can't help it. I stand out. Especially in these pictures. Standing next to these Africans, in combination with a really bright flash, completely negated the tan that I swear I really do have.

This is the ambassador of Congo Kinshasa's wife. She was a very regal lady. But when I told her I could sing in Lingala and began singing "yesu ndecko na bolingo," she definitely started singing with me and we finished the song together clapping and swaying. Freak, I love Africans. 

Here I am in a Conglolese ambassador sandwich. On the right is Brazzaville and the left is Kinshasa. Yes, there are two Congos. I'm partial to Kinshasa because that's where a lot of my friends are from, but the Brazaville ambassador did invite me to his home and that moves Brazaville up a little. I met ambassadors from all the countries, but I am very partial to Congo in general, for whatever reason.
Okay, now this is Victor, the Togolese driver for the Nigerian Ambassador. He was pretty funny and introduced me to a lot of people. And after the party was over, he took the ambassador home and came back in the smokin' hot armored Mercedes and took me the thirty minutes home to Herzilya Pituach. In the car we talked about politics, the American Civil Rights', Israel and a bunch of other things, which was really pushing my French. I probably came off sounding ridiculous in trying to sound intelligent in a language I don't speak much these days. In fact, Hebrew words kept slipping in. I think I'm lingually retarded. I cant keep any language straight for every long anymore. I mesh them all right now. If I'm forced to speak multiple languages in the same setting, I become completely incomprehensible. And my poor father thinks I'm so smart...

Anyways, while we were stopped in front of my house and I was about to get out, he complimented me very generously and ended by very seriously saying, "If I wasn't married, I would definitely marry you. Why wont you gave me your phone number?" I just laughed and refused for the 12th time that night to give him my phone number. I told him I didn't have a phone because the embassy took it away. And it wasn't even a lie.