What not to Wear

If you were invited to a foreign embassy for dinner, what would you wear?  A dress? A suit? Jeans?  Polo?  This is what Aaron and I were asking each other earlier in the week, when we were invited to the Spanish embassy. My friends and family at home are right now looking at each other with a shrug and saying......"uh, church clothes, right?" 

So we asked the very nice Spanish police officer who invited us (we'll call him Miguel), what the dress code was. He looked at us in our work clothes and said (in French) "ehh, you look fine like that."  OK.  Church clothes.

We were told to come at 8:30pm, but this being the Spanish and not the Germans or Swiss, we got there a little before 9.  (And were only the second couple to arrive.)  We were led through the embassy compound to a tiny little duplex, the home of the 3 police officers who work there.  As people started to arrive, it was obvious that we were totally overdressed.  They were all wearing tees, tanks, shorts, and there were a few ladies in sundresses.  Normally that would be ok; better overdressed than underdressed.  BUT! There was no air conditioning, and there were over 30 people crammed into a room meant for about 8 people!!!  We were sitting on plastic chairs at long tables, kind of like a family reunion, with absolutely no room to escape.

My pants were lined, and my top, although short-sleeved, was sweater material.  I had left my hair down and had nothing to tie it up with.  I was dying. Melting. So the helpful Spainards said "here, you sit by the door."  Thanks, but it was even hotter outside!  Then they kept pouring me wine, and rum & Cokes....not super helpful when you're sweaty. 

Besides the heat and being overdressed though,we had a GREAT time.  I found the Spanish people classy, fun, eager to talk to anyone about anything.  We thankfully found 3 English speakers there and sat with them; two of them Spanish diplomats and one woman from the German embassy. They were all about our age, and had plenty of stories about their travels in the US. 

Miguel made all the food; we had tapas, little dishes of different things - sausage, meatballs, fish, potatoes.  We didn't have much room left at the end for the yummy rice pudding.  The whole evening sealed the deal for me on where to go for spring break: we are definitely going to the Canary Islands or Barcelona!