Another night, another party.

This time it was the 69^th birthday celebration of the father of my English teacher Shalala last Saturday night. He speaks several languages including Russian, Turkish, and English, and worked at the border crossing with Iran for a number of years. He is out-going and has offered me numerous rides in the past years when he's seen me about town. I'll never forget his generosity last year saying I should consider him like a brother.

The gathering was a family occasion and I felt honored to be invited to his home. A huge meal was prepared and the table set by his wife, 2 daughters, and 3 teenage granddaughters. Beside 2 sons-in-law, he had also invited half a dozen men and of course 2 school-age grandsons. A third daughter and her husband live in Russia. I think there were about 20 people for dinner and dare I mention all the food. I'll just add a couple photos.

At some point there were 8-9 men seated at the table, so I was rescued from the table by daughter Shalala. As we headed to the kitchen, a man came in bearing a bottle of scotch that resembled Chivas Regal. I was offered some, but I decided to decline. It just wouldn't be worth the possible harm to my reputation. So I retreated to the kitchen where I proceeded to teach the Hokey-Pokey to the women and 2 little grandsons. We laughed making fun of the men talking so much.

We finally signaled that we would bring out the cake and candles. Of course everyone could sing Happy Birthday. More tea and a beautiful homemade cake.

This following photo shows me next to English teacher Shalala; her father and mother are seated.

When the men left, the women and children took over the dining room, put on some Azeri music, and danced. It was great spontaneous fun and the guest of honor enjoyed it the most. It was a great ending to the party. Of course I got a ride home – this time in a son-in-law's Mercedes.

I've created a photo album from the evening in Google+ but I'll be darned if I can figure out the link!