Dancing in the Streets...

Oh...it doesn't matter what you wear...just as long as you are there...every boy...grab a girl (or a boy)...everywhere around the world...!

That little ditty is dedicated to last Saturday's festivities where I did actually dance in the streets. In Paris. In the rain. If I could say I was dancing with a handsome Parisien man who was sweeping me off my feet, I'm sure you would all be green with envy at my romantic tale. But, despite the dancing, the rain, and the Parisien streets, my day was the farthest thing from romantic...

I woke up tired from the last two nights of partying, wishing I could stay in bed all day, but I had plans to meet Mirko and Alessandro for a festival in their neighborhood (in the Bastille area). I'm not sure what was the occasion, but the neighborhood shut down the area to traffic and put out tables and chairs so people could picnic on the streets and sidewalks. There were games, kids running around, clowns, entertainment, music, the works. Mirko, Alessandro and I were joined by their neighbor, Gabriel, and an IEA coworker, Kieran. Alessandro, channeling Bree Van de Camp, had made a delicious spread, including bread, cheese, salami, pasta salad and cake. And there was wine as always. We sat and ate and drank, enjoying the entertainment. Especially Xavier the magician - we tried as hard as we could to figure out the ''tricks'' behind his card tricks, but he was flawless. It started to rain, so we headed to the nearby bars for some beer and music.

At one of the bars, I met a Belgium girl, Joke, who was visiting Paris for the weekend. It turns out, she will be working in D.C. for the summer, so we exchanged information and promised to meet up. What a small world!

The rain lightened so we headed back into the streets. One of the activities on the festival agenda was Tango Lessons. Mirko and I decided we had to participate. Well, of course it started raining again, but the lessons were underway and no one wanted to stop. So, we kept trying our best (which after multiple glasses of wine and beer was not easy) to tango...in the rain. Like I said, not romantic, but definitely a memory I will not forget!