How I spent $600 on the Marine ball

Being a Fulbrighter but not quite an "official" American (i.e. an employee of the state department)is a bit like not wanting to be part of any club that would have you as a member. There are all kinds of perks that we can take advantage of, like cashing checks at the Embassy, but in most ways we are very much not of the ex-pat world here. This is just fine, but every once in a while it is intriguing to peer into the bubble to see what life is like on the other side.

The annual Marine Corps birthday ball seemed to present just the occasion for ex-pat voyeurism. It is a big annual event, most of the Embassy crowd shows up, and as my friend in the foreign service argued, "How often do you get to see a birthday cake cut with a sword?" The Embassy doctor also encouraged us to go, saying that if there was one big event to attend, this would be it. When the tickets went on sale we jumped and ponied up $160 for two tickets.

The problem with these kinds of functions is of course, what to wear? I managed to bring a few things suitable for a fancy dress party, but hubby did not bring a suit. Ten years ago you could have a very nice suit made in Dakar for around $100, but it seems that these days the price is more like $500. After crunching the numbers, we decided to order him a suit online and have it delivered to his mom, who would send it to us here. $215 later two suits were on the way to Denver. (We should have told her about this plan earlier. When the suits showed up at her house she thought it was a mistake and she was about to send them back, but we caught up with her just in time.)

We knew the next hurdle would be quite pricey, and so it was. $185 to ship the suits to Dakar via DHL. Regular blog readers know the rest of that story well, others can review the DHL saga from a previous post. Bottom line, our marine ball budget took another hit from local DHL and the Senegalese government.

The event was originally going to be at the Radisson Blu, which aside from being a swanky new hotel, is also in our neighborhood. When we purchased our tickets we chose our entrees, which I have long since forgotten, but they seemed very good at the time. Next thing we know the Embassy newsletter informs us that the venue has been changed, allowing for a "buffet dinner" and a "live band." Buffet dinner means lots of dried out hotel food, three quarters of which you have no interest in. For those who like to swing dance, live band in Dakar means that of the 20-30 songs the band is likely to play, perhaps one or two of them will be amenable to swing dancing. Yet, what to do? At this point we are officially in for over $600 and our enthusiasm for the event is beginning to flag.

There were few choices left except to attend the ball and try to have the time of our lives. We showered, shaved, blow-dried, primped, and got ourselves to the ball a fashionable 30 minutes after the start time. Where were all the people? After walking down a red carpet into the pool area of the former Club Med, we saw that there were only about 15 people there.

I would like to say that things picked up and a great time was had by all, but a more candid account would acknowledge that most of the ex-pats were standoffish, the turn-out was less than robust, and the band, while good, was a little too much Bob Marley and the Wailers meets slow Motown. Not ideal for swing dancing.

Nonetheless, we made full use of the open bar, made several trips to the buffet line, and managed to put a few other couples to shame on the dance floor. Live and learn as they say. Live and learn.