I swear I'm not a lightweight

Last weekend something really shameful happened. To celebrate the end of the first week with students at work, my boss invited everyone from the office out for drinks at Barasti at the Le Meridian on Thursday night. Barasti is a really fun outdoor bar right on the water in Dubai Marina (I had actually been there before when I visited Jared in '08). A really fun bar with a great vibe, and it was also the end of a fairly stressful week (which ended with the Mother who had the issue with my 'accent' -- see below blog about my first week of work), so I had already decided I needed to let loose a little before arriving. Also, coincidentally, I had eaten before work at about 11:30 am, but had not had time to squeeze in anything for dinner after work... and also hadn't really been drinking much water all day (this is an extremely important part of the story).

So, my friend Phil from work (he's the guy who teaches the Math small-groups) and I took a taxi to the bar at about 8:30. We had been trying to wait for Clive (my boss and the owner of Power Tutoring), but he got tied up when a parent came in at 8:15pm (odd to show up at a tutoring place that late on a weekend night, but ok, good concerned parenting). So, Phil and I arrived at Barasti and met Jared and decided to get a drink while waiting for Clive (pint of Stella was my drink of choice).

I had one drink and felt a little buzzed but thought it was just the heat because it was still pretty sticky out that night. During my second drink I realized (or not so much at the time) that perhaps the tone and octave of my voice are on the rise (you all know what I'm talking about when the really excited Jen emerges).

So, I'm having a swimming time chatting with Phil about his girlfriend Apple and hanging out by the giant Lady Liberty Statue really enjoying myself. Clive finally arrived at about 9:15 and Jared and I decide to stay for one more round with Clive before heading to meet Melissa and her new German bf Dom at the Hive in the Souq Al Bahar. Clive buys a round, Stella Pint #3 brings in boisterous talk about the mother who hates my accent and a lesson on Cockney slang from Clive. Somewhere in the rhyming of Dog & Bone = Phone, words that should not be said in front of your boss might have been said.

This is the point where Jared and I say our goodbyes to Phil and Clive and Jared drags me into a taxi to meet Melissa and Dom. While in the taxi Jared harshly reminded me that Clive is in fact my boss and that until December 20th, I am only on a probationary period at work (a traditional work contract clause in UAE Employment Law, my UAE Employment Law expert bf tells me. No really, he is a UAE Employment Law expert, see his published article: http://www.nklc.ae/doc/UAE_Employment_Law_Khasawneh_Assoc_26Aug08.pdf. Anyway, I digress...

Offended by Jared's comments that I was being inappropriate, we arrive at Hive and I have a drink while discussing my fear of getting fired with Melissa. At some point, not all the long after we arrived I start to feel a little bit sick once the spins have completely set in. I begin sipping beer #5 (this time a Peroni) but really can't stomach any more.

I start to tell Jared I'm not feeling the best and we head out somewhere around 11:30. Of course we're hungry because neither one of us had dinner, so we head into the Dubai Mall (located directly next to the Souq Al Bahar) to find some food. We wander around for probably an hour lost and looking for food, but all of the 3 different food courts are closing down (Malls stay open until midnight here on weekends... a totally shopping driven culture. completely weird), so we just take a taxi home. Needless to say, that night I got very ill.

Enter the next morning, when I wake up at 7:30 and can no long sleep from discomfort and move to the couch where I stayed unable to move for the next 5 hours. I would say top 5 worst hangovers of my life. And the whole morning I am just bewildered as to how this occurred with first of all, only 4 drinks over about 4 hours, and secondly, only beer, the same kind of beer. Never have I have ever gotten so sick off only beer before. My only explanation is the empty stomach + dehydration (you can get really dehydrated here really easily and not even know it because of the climate) + the heat coming together to make the perfect storm. Lesson definitely learned. Will not be drinking again in Dubai without a very full stomach and my 8 glasses of water for the day consumed.

I was ashamed of my performance, and only had one drink at the awesome Rooptop party we went to in Jumeirah on Friday night. Quite disappointing because probably the coolest party I've ever been to... On a rooftop of a low-rise building right on the Gulf with a beautiful beach view, grill, and proper DJ complete with light show and projector screen like at a club. Also, it was a theme party (a Yellow Party) and everyone knows how much I LOVE theme parties (80's, Trash, Ugly Sweater, you name it). My friend Elizabeth apparently has a Yellow Party once every 10 years. Amazing. But, alas, I was afraid after Beer #1 and only consumed water the rest of the night. A sad sad showing by a Hobart girl. Lauren and/or Josh... you would be embarassed to call me your friend. The trifecta has been broken.