New Year Eve

A New Year starts, carrying with it new hopes, shit and bla bla etc...
I promised to write an account of how we said goodbye to 2005. We probably didn't. For a month or so from now on we will mistake the year when writing the date for example. So it is a transition more than a change.
My plan was to go with my friends to a New Year party. The habit here is Xmas with family and New Year with friends. I placed minor efforts in picking the place or making reservations, instead I played a passive role. My friends took care of it. I discover three hours before midnight that my parents are celebrating in the same place: The Orient Club "نادي الشرق".
Each was on his own so I went to my friends' house and waited... then waited... and waited some more. By the time it was 11:40 PM I had very little patience and apologized to go ahead of them and celebrate the New Year with my parents at least. My instinct was right and I arrived way before my friends who made it after midnight. I think each had it best as I spent the midnight with my parents, on the dancing floor, fully dressed including a wool coat on top of my suit in the middle of a hundred people dancing in a very tight place. Needless to say I was sweating like a marathon runner. My friends also made it to midnight with their family and then came.
The music was by a band called "Freedom". They ignited the atmosphere with energy, but did one bad thing. The countdown to hour zero was mixed with the singing to the point that no one noticed. The next ten minutes was filled with requests like "Hey, it is 5 past midnight, when are you going to do the celebration. So finally at 10 past 12 the band again played the countdown and people celebrated. It must be real midnight at 12:10 AM somewhere in the world anyway.
The food was good especially the cake. But that was of secondary importance as I ate before I go and was busy dancing.
The dancing stage is no more than 10x18 feet and should fit something like 300 people or more. And as a matter of fact there is no place for even a shadow, so if you are dancing with someone you really like be sure there will be lots of friction. The same thing applies if you are dancing with you don't like much.
Dancing was a challenge then. There wasn't much dabkeh, a decent place for dabkeh to start with. But when they played it five or six small group of dabkeh were formed. If Tony Eid saw that he would have had a heart attack. I took the tailship (as opposed to leadership) of one of the lines. Where are the glory days of Cleveland and my partner in crime Wael??
Anyway, the party was nice, we danced a lot and took some breaks. The music was so loud that you can barely hear your thoughts, so a break is a must. Maya showed for a few minutes or so. Then a belly dancer "Shalimar" came to perform few dances. She was good and the hall was full of people cheering, with lust and excitement I should say. It is rumored that she got paid 150,000 SP for the session. And given the fact that she has more than one party to "cheer", all girls should think of changing their profession وذلك عملاً بالمثل القائل: اشتغل رقاصة يالله...
I finally returned home at 4 AM, slept like a bear in winter time, then woke up as if nothing has changed.