1233 Spring Caravan

Saturday, May 5, 2007

It's a hair after midnight, but I'm still considering it Saturday. Posting from the host hotel for the Rakkasah Spring Caravan.

I got about 2 hours sleep last night (Friday night). I wanted to get to Somerset, NJ, by 2:00 pm, Willow was dancing at 2:37 pm, so I'd have to leave the house by a little before noon at the latest, so I'd have to get up by 10 am to take care of everything I'd have to do before leaving. Shouldn't have been a problem, except that at 3:30 am I decided I really needed the underskirt for the Assuit dress I want to wear Sunday, and it needed hemming. When I finally got to bed I was so worried about oversleeping that I couldn't fall asleep. Finally got to sleep about 8 am, and then - of course - slept through the alarm.

I flew around the house, and got out at 12:15 pm, and stopped by the bank ATM for money. The guy in line ahead of me took forever and didn't seem to do anything. When I was my turn, the ATM took my card, asked all the correct questions, then said thank you and gave me my card back. No money. So I had to go into the bank. Turns out the guy ahead of me had the same problem.

Now, I figure the cashier has to do two things: 1) find out if the ATM debited my account, and if so, cancel that transaction, and 2) gimme the money.

Instead, the cashier decided to find out what was wrong with the ATM and try to fix it. Agh! I don't have time for this! Gimme the money!

I didn't leave the village until 1 pm ish. This gave me 1.5 hours for a 2 hour trip. (Mapquest says 2 hrs 12 minutes, 135 miles.)

Now, I don't much speed. If the sign says 55, I do 55. Maybe 57 if I'm in a hurry, and I feel guilty about that. Today I did 80 in a 55 zone on an interstate limited-access highway (and if anyone in law enforcement is reading this, uh, I made that part up for the sake of the story). I made it in time to see Willow dance, with literally 2 minutes to spare. (So Mapquest must be wrong, because using their figures, I had to AVERAGE 90 mph.)

Spring Caravan is a bit different from the fall Rakkasah East, because this one is billed as Tribal Fusion. It's a different crowd, and a different style on the stage. I like it better.

As usual, I spent a bunch of money. I bought a beaded purse, some sheer beledi dresses, a dress similar to my purple SCA dress that looks so good on me, but in black and a smaller size, and some silver and stone (lapis, carnelian) necklace pendants. I can't feel guilty, because the prices are much much lower here than you'd find anywhere else. $40 for a caftan you'd pay $70 for online. $20 for beaded shawls you'd pay $50 for elsewhere. Last year I bought a cut velvet beaded and fringed opera coat for $50, and saw the exact same coat in an uptown Kingston store for $120. I would come to Rakkasah just to shop.

Sixteen of us went out for dinner, overwhelmed a Ruby Tuesday, "Do you have reservations?', "Uh, no, but it's only 4:30, you can't be that busy...." Back for more performances after dinner. Something funny - as Willow was getting up from the table, her fingers got pinched between two chairs. The general reaction was, "Oh well, it's ok, who cares, you've already danced."

Party in the hotel bar after the show paused for the night. Dance floor full of belly dancers. Djinn played. Every male who had a drum joined in. One group of women started up an ATS group on the lower floor, group improv via hand signals, and that was fun to watch. Usual Rakkasah prices did not apply - my one Amaretto on the rocks was $10.43.

Thence to bed.
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