From Souk To Zouk

As you expand your travels, you're just bound to meet some incredible people. This is my encounter with two such folk.

PM naturally drew people to her with her flamboyant, audacious style and magnetic personality. Her expressive voice and intonations seemed to fit all the three languages she was fluent in. Her natural beauty and her facial makeup gave her a look that could fit in any fashion magazine, but it was never garishly so; in fact, it was just simply part of the whole appealing package.

She had a smile that seemed to belie a devil-may-care attitude, which I personally got to experience with her driving. It didn't matter if there was rebar underneath that could piece the underbelly of her upscale car, or the ancient walls lining the narrow streets of Old Town Damascus that would easily mangle the exterior - PM just went for it without second thought, probably figuring she'd be able to handle whatever might befall her.

She would get me to do a completely clumsy rendition of some celebratory dance during the work day, and I really didn't feel embarrassed about it, but rather invigorated. Her circle of friends included those at a local Damascus hot spot for dancing - even long after she had left, those that had joined her were still enjoying the groovy beats, dry ice smoke, and incredible light show on the dance floor along with other Syrians of the mostly youthful variety.

Yes, TAIT (Thank Allah It's Thursday) indeed...

Speaking of dance floors, that's where DT comes in. I never met DT until after my first full week in Malaysia; she was there to visit one of my fellow cohorts here. She is something of PM's opposite, and similar to me in demeanor - more down to earth and easy-going, and not really the type of person who goes out and parties much on purpose.

But then we as a group got word of Zouk, the bestest, super-happening spot in Malaysia from what we were told, and having nothing better to do, we all decided what the hey and grabbed a couple taxis to make the trip over during a clear, warm Malaysian Friday night.

The outside of the club, with the beautifully lit Petronas Towers hovering just off in the distance, was abuzz with activity. After a few false starts and misdirections, we made it into a dance area that suited our tastes, the Velvet Underground. A fine mesh of dance favorites both old and new got people dancing up a storm, urged on by the in-house Mambo Jambo dancers, who were decked out fancifully a la the musical play/movie "Hairspray."

For the next few hours, our group as a whole simply had a blast together, and I think collectively we were just simply feeling that there was nothing else we would rather be doing.

But specifically, DT and I especially found we had a certain chemistry together. We danced and didn't care how silly we might've looked, we talked about this and that, had a few drinks, and smiled and laughed and just felt good about the way things were going and just enjoying the company of each other.

With the help of a few other heartier members of our initial group, we helped closed the place down that night.

Funny thing is that in real life, we don't really live too far each other all things considered - ironic how it took us thousands of miles of flying between us to facilitate this chance encounter.

Some might read this and infer a sexual connotation. There was none here - DT is already spoken for, and I'd say that person is quite a lucky one. Eh, maybe I'm a little envious deep down, but in reality, I'm just happy that fate allowed me to cross paths with one of the happy couple anyway.

Funny these great chance encounters so rarely happen considering there are so many people on this planet of ours. Maybe circumstance and chance are much more discerning than we tend to think.