Belly Dancing and Fire Eating

As some of you may know, I'm cruising into the 6th year of my book club...The Late Night Bookies.

For our book club for February 2010, we read: Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Great author and one I have enjoyed in the past with her novel "The Namesake." This particular read was a hit with all of the book club members, and it seems like most of them were happy to recommend it. It is a series of short stories, which, this time around, was very appealing and made for a quick read.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307278255/ref=oss_product

With the theme being India, Kelly, the woman who chose this months selection, wanted to go out for Indian food. That being the case she chose the restaurant India Fusion. I love India, I love Indian food. I like traditional Indian decor and I was hoping to find a good atmosphere at this particular location. I had expectations and I was looking forward to the evening.

For the most part, my expectations were reasonably met. The food was good, if a little overpriced, middle of the road Indian fare, not the best I've had but definitely not the worst, and it is a place I would go to, relatively easily, again. Not a ringing endorsement, but not a bad one either.

BUT, the thing that made up for it all was the tattooed fire-eating belly dancer.

Yes. I did say the words "tattooed fire-eating belly dancer" all together--in a row--as a collective statement.

WHAT A GREAT TIME!

This chick was awesome. Awesome, because she perked the place up and gave it some flavor--livened up the dinner hour, added some spice to the uptight, white-bread customers hanging out there. She made her ankle tinkling rounds, weaving in and out of the guest-filled tables, most of whom I do not think appreciated her properly, and even paused at our table for a chat.


Through the course of our chat, we found out that she had relocated from California to Utah and that she had been a belly dancer for about 10 years or so, and even that she taught belly-dancing lessons. If I lived closer, I could see myself signing up for some of those. Add some spice and flavor to my own life. Maybe another time.

Anyway, she dressed and acted the part and reminded me of a time many years ago, when at the age of 15, I went on a business trip with my dad to Istanbul, Turkey and saw my first belly dancer.

1985: I'm the smiling girl in the middle

Now that was also an eye-opening fun time. My dad's local business compadres wanted to take us out for dinner and entertainment to the same place that my mom and dad had gone to when they traveled to Istanbul together earlier that same year. So, off we went to an underground, smokey, nightclub restaurant, replete with savory, amazing food, full of adults, cigarette smoke, music and belly dancers. She also wound around the tables, entertaining, tinkling and dancing, though she was not a fire-eater. The nightclub had a photographer, so there were some fun photos that came out of the event. In all--a great time for a 15-year old girl who was missing Brazil and was excited about the international adventure with her dad.

Ahhhh, Istanbul. It left an indelible impression. When we first arrived, we landed on the tarmac and they rolled up with a staircase so we could descend from the plane. It was night, and there were soldiers with machine guns posted all about. Shortly before our trip, Turkey had had another airport that had been attacked, and so everyone was on high alert.

Throughout the course of my trip, soldiers could be seen roaming the streets and guarding banks and hotels as well as any bridges or other main public locations. Most of them were young, and cute, and who could resist flirting? Certainly not me, and, much to my delight I turned several heads my way with coy smiles and big eyes. But I digress...

At a wharf in Istanbul by the open air market with the driver

I was fortunate enough to have the wife of a business associate and her chauffeur willing to show me the sights and to spend the days with me while my dad was at work. She and I had such fun times. She took me to all of these wonderful places. Mosques, museums, restaurants, the famous Bazaar, gardens and small towns and ruins. The scenes from my car windows fascinated me. I saw ancient buildings, minarets, men strolling arm in arm, women with children shopping with carts and bags, billboards in Turkish, placards and signs that very definitely indicated that I was not in the U.S. anymore, whatsoever. The traditions, foods, language and people were different and it rained most of the time that I was there. It was perfect. It was one of the greatest traveling experiences I've ever had.

So, in conclusion we come back full circle to Miss Fire-Eating Belly Dancer with her tinkling and dancing.

First--
I realized I need to get myself a skirt just like yours.
Hot pink ruffles and fish-netted coins, bells, beads and a full, flowy skirt.
I'm thinking it might be good for a night out...or if I'm feeling daring, maybe something new to wear to church...help the little kids I teach focus for a few minutes before the vibrant, life electricity that they possess in spades, causes them to wiggle themselves right off of their chairs.

Second--
Thank you for entertaining us.
Thanks for being something different and interesting on a cold, winter evening.
Thanks for being something sparky and interesting to our day.