This party was held in a villa in Valle Escondido, a place we call Disneyland because it is a gated community that is like Europe...somehow avoiding the 3rd World nature of Panama. The muckety-mucks live here. The house, excuse me, villa was a Tuscany mansion. Beautiful, elegant and made for entertaining.
As we pulled up, they had valet parking with 3 attendants. I have wondered what it would be like to go to a Hollywood or New York gala event with limos and valet parking. This was as close to it as I'm going to get.
We entered a party of about 200 strong. Platers of exotic sweets were on all the end tables. Waiters were circulating with platers of morsels. One particularly tasty morsel was on individual ceramic spoons with a sizzling scallop in a unique ginger sauce. Too cool! Waiters were also carrying trays of drinks around.
The dining table was set with the most amazing array roasted peppers, cold asparagus spears, roasted pork, rare beef and who knows what else. There was a built in bar in the living room 15 feet long, dominating one entire wall. This place was made for major entertaining.
The chef was Charlie Collins from the Panamonte. The Panamonte Hotel is the grand dame of Boquete owned by the Collins family. The matriarch is in her 90's, sharp as a tack and still ruling the enterprise. Her late husband was responsible for bring Geisha coffee plants to Pananama. This has become the best coffee in the world. One of her sons is Charlie Collins who became a master chef with European training. The food was extraordinary!
The guests were from the A plus list of who's who in Boquete, a group that we don't normally get to mix with. We knew maybe 1 in 5 people. This was the money-prestige crowd.
As the liquor flowed, the party got louder and louder. Remember, all homes have concrete walls and tile floors so sound bangs around freely.
They had a piano player who was enthusiastic. Then someone put a microphone in the piano and amplified it. Then, all these classy, elegant people started to dance and sing at the top of their lungs. Showing once again that foolishness transcends all socio-economic classes.
It became deafening.
I found myself screaming at a friend to try to converse. Impossible.
After a couple of hours, I grabbed Yella and fled the noise.
I am now home. In peace and quiet. Thank God!
I am glad I got to go to a party of this stature but I am so grateful to be home in peace and quiet. How much rich food and wealthy, drunken noise can one take?
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