Just to get it out of the way, for those that might be somehow behind the curve....there's no more boyfriend, but it wasn't epic, or anything. Just another victim of the 24/7 work culture and Indian work- a- holism combined-- I just couldn't do it anymore, no matter how good it was, and it was good. There were other factors- he had this distance that almost all Indian men from India have- this odd combination of doting on you, adoring you, and yet somehow not really caring a whit about you, your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. It's hard to explain unless you've been there. Anyhow, it's for the best- although it's hard now, it's okay in the end.
Anyway, onto more exciting topics, like the events of the past few weeks- my birthday dinner and a few other ex pat events.
Birthday Dinner: It was at Lusso, and the attendees were: Haydn and Dee, Mark and Beth, Nimmi, and her two friends-- Shah and his wife Maria. Shah and Maria are from Pakistan (at least I assume she is, since he met her there and NO ONE visits Pakistan on some kind of vacation). We already know the aforementioned men and their ladies (Haydn and Dee, Mark and Beth) so let me describe the latter 3. Nimmi is a new friend I met a few weeks ago. She's a banking exec by way of Dubai, with a warm, bubbly personality, and she's one of the few women who's ever successfully "Listen, cookie-d" me (She warned me to just have fun with Allwyn, as there was no way it was going to work. And lo, she was right!). She's always impeccably dressed, as ex pats from non European countries often are.
Her friend Shah is from work- they've known each other 8 years or so. Shah is a great example of the reason that I'm sort of screwed on the dating front-- I probably will never go back to American guys of any race after being exposed to the other types I've met "out here", but neither are these other types a good match (NOT that he's on the market, he's just a very distinctive type I've met here). There are many completely unique, different from any American I've ever met, men here. (Well, I can think of one American who is unlike any man I've ever met, who I'll never forget, this dude Mike Lair, who was my muse for about 3 years, but he is the exception to the rule).
The self possession, power, control, deep sensuality, self mastery, confidence, and global views these men have FAR surpasses anything any American I've ever met has ever had, and this includes extreme high roller businessmen. Now, Americans, including me, have a sweetness, innocence, and openness about them that extremely attractive to worldly, powerful, old souls like these guys, which is why I've been landed on like a piano about 8572 times in the last 2 and a half years. As I told a friend recently "These men make most white guys look like children." And they do. Shah himself is tall, and not super exceptionally good looking, but he has made the most of what he has to an almost laughable degree: perfectly fitting clothes, an excellent hair cut, and all of his details are managed- his skin, nails,and teeth are all clean and correct. He has a deep dimple on one side of his face that gives him a rakish charm, and he also has what I think of as "an aristocratic lisp"-- just the slightest hint of a lisp that international types often carry.
However, despite these considerable charms, this guy can make your blood run cold with hints of his nature (which he did not choose, it was instilled in him by his culture). A primo example is how, at last night's outing, he read the tapas menu at the bar (ignoring both me and his wife waggling our fingers for it) and declared there was no vegetarian food so "just eat at home". AND THAT WAS THAT. Menu back to the waiter, with that devastating dimpled grin. (We three were the only vegetarians at the table). He handled all the interactions with the waiter, and let me tell you, at this table were super high powered women, some of whom were older and more powerful than him. No matter. He had the one thing that really matters over here: the "cash and prizes" that comes with being a man. This is just how it is. These guys make you feel simultaneously like a million bucks and half a lottery ticket... from yesterday.
More later...
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