Thread: Rak East

Are we going to try to organize a meet up this year? Seems like every year nobody shows up and Aazura and I end up at the bar drinking... ..l;,

and something is wrong with that?..l;, J/K.

If my boarder patrol testing and what not doesn't interfer, I'm going to try and make it this year. I've never met any bhuzers.

Maybe some form of easily recognizable Bhuz token could be beneficial?

I am not sure whether that can be implemented without the risk of being kicked out of the hotel, but my idea of an appropriate get-together involves champagne and the hot tub next to the swimming pool, in the afternoon ;-)

I'm in!

Also, I'm working at the Turquoise International booth this year, so bhuzzers, please stop by and say hi! Maybe I'll get a bhuz pin so you can recognize me.

And I always go to the afterparties too, so you know we're all there and just don't realize we're dancing next to each other!

Steffi, I like the way you think! Whatever happens this year, you can be sure we'll all be soaked in champagne!

Hey, let's all meet at my workshop on Tuesday! ..g.:..l;,

I'm going! It's my first kid free/hubby free weekend since the wee one was born two years ago, so I plan to live it up (and by live it up I mean be in bed by 8...so I might not make it to the after parties!).

I'd love to meet for some hot tubbin' and champagne, though!

Lilya, do you want to carpool with Odella and myself? We are heading down early on Sat morning, coming back Sun afternoon.

Maybe we should plan to all meet outside the hotel lounge at 11:30 so we can after-party together on Sat night.

I hope to be able to meet you guys some time on Saturday - that's the only full day we'll be there!

If I can go (Border Patrol Exam is on Friday 10/17) it would be Sat. and Sunday. Anyone going from Georgia or S. Carolina wanna carpool?

Star -

Thanks for the offer, but my husband is packing me off on the acela Friday morning with strict instructions to do nothing but shop, watch belly dance and knit until I catch the return train Sunday afternoon (okay, maybe he didn't mention shopping, but he bought me train tickets and a hotel room, so I ain't complaining). :)

If I am up at 11:30 (pm? yikes!) on Saturday I will meet up with y'all! I assume the hotel has a restaurant - anyone want to do a lunch/brunch/dinner?

I'll be there for the weeklong and I will be probably volunteering backstage at some point. I will try to be good with my shopping budget. At least in theory. I will be in Monday afternoon and leaving about 1PM on Sunday. I'll be wearing my bhuz button on my purse. I look forward to meeting everyone

Alrana

Fatima - the Turquoise booth is high on my list anyways. Expect a somewhat eccentric German chick to stop by ;-) We will put a bottle or two or three of bubbly and some cassis in the car, just in case ...

My bhuz pin and shirt had best get here stat!!
though I don't think I'll be there till Sunday ..cr.:
yet again
hope I can help out backstage again, but I haven't heard about about that

Is anybody here taking the zil class on Tuesday night with Jim Boz?

Great Steffi - I'll see you at the booth! I'm stashing some bubbly in my suitcase too. I just ordered my bhuz pin, so hopefully I'll meet you guys. Rebecca - I'm performing on Sunday, hopefully I'll see you backstage! (If not on the floor first!)

Originally Posted by phillyraqs

Great Steffi - I'll see you at the booth! I'm stashing some bubbly in my suitcase too. I just ordered my bhuz pin, so hopefully I'll meet you guys. Rebecca - I'm performing on Sunday, hopefully I'll see you backstage! (If not on the floor first!)

Did somebody say "bubbly"?..g.:

Lotus Niraja

Woot, I won't miss everyone at least =)

Originally Posted by phillyraqs

Great Steffi - I'll see you at the booth! I'm stashing some bubbly in my suitcase too. I just ordered my bhuz pin, so hopefully I'll meet you guys. Rebecca - I'm performing on Sunday, hopefully I'll see you backstage! (If not on the floor first!)

Originally Posted by LotusNiraja

Did somebody say "bubbly"?..g.:

Lotus Niraja

Hey Lotus - I would love to meet you - I heard so many great things about you from my friend Lisa/Adalia, from Lucy's trip to Ahlan Wa Sahlan last year!

Maybe I'll have to make a little trail of champagne glasses back to the hotel hot tub and see which bhuzzers I can lure in!!!!

Well Lady,
Since champagne is my favorite drink, I can hear a cork popping all the way in France! I'll find ya', better believe it. LOL

You're on. I would love to meet you also. You were so helpful to me and my troupe when I first moved to PA and needed a listing. Since I teach (and shop) in Philly quite often, it is always nice to meet other PA'ers.

Give Lisa a big hug from me, she is so sweet and funny...beautiful to boot. We had a blast in Egypt. Mention the awful mint shisha. ;)

Lotus Niraja

I'm crashing the champagne fest! I will NOT leave Raks East without having at least one ... okay, two ... glasses of champagne!

Someone is going to have to peel me off the floor on Sun morning. DEBAUCHERY!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!

I will be going for the day on Sat and taking a workshop Tuesday Night..No afterparties for me though as I am taking my daughter on Sat who just adore watching bellydancers & shopping Shes 6

Less than a week to go. Anyone care to firm up plans for a meet up on Saturday?

I'm not going this year, but wish I were!!!!!! Even for just the after-parties. ..g.: Oh, and the shopping. Last year I bought my teal Great Loop right away on Friday night.

Have a great time, everyone! Keep us posted on the details.

The hotel is being refurbished, BTW, so the front desk is in the restaurant, which is much smaller, and the bar is kinda there too. But the waitress I was talking to yesterday said that they will move the bar into the afterparty room for us, which should be very convenient.

Hmm, I sound like a boozer... not so much, really. Honest.

Latifa

P.S. There have been some great classes this week, and more to come!

Glad to know the bar will be accessible since getting drunk is 2nd on my list of priority's, after shopping! ;o)

Originally Posted by stardancer

Glad to know the bar will be accessible since getting drunk is 2nd on my list of priority's, after shopping! ;o)

..l;,..l;,..l;,

Anybody got any stories to share? I am still terribly tired - got home at 3AM after dropping off Nahri. Met Mehndidancer, who is a hoot to be around, and Phillyraks.

Hi Steffi!!!! It was so great to meet you - I feel like I have a new, wonderful friend. Please post your vid soon, I was so disappointed to miss your set. And it was great to see Mehndidancer again - please post our pics, though I look terrible in them!

I was also so excited to meet Lotus, Miranaja, and see Gia again. Had a shot and a smoke with Jim Boz, that bad boy, and met tons of new dancers and catch up with old friends both in my area and beyond (like Latifa and her wonderful troupe who KILLED during their set. Hot!)

Was it me, or was Rakkasah attendance very low this year? It seemed not as crowded.

Ugh, the hotel construction was a pain, mainly because the lobby was so narrow - I almost clocked Suhaila at one point while we were trying to walk past each other and neither paying attention.

I stopped wearing my bhuz button because too many people were like "What the heck is that?" but I wish I got to meet Stardancer and Lilya!

Drank too much on Friday night (that crazy annoying girl in the snakeskin pants humping people, that was me) but got a terrible virus the rest of the weekend and still feel so ill, I'm home from work today. So I was very bummed that the rest of my rakkasah weekend was spent feeling terrible and vomiting. (And thank you to all the lovely dancers that took care of me/checked in with me - people in the bathrooms even stopped to rub my back while I was getting sick at Rakkasah - I was so embarrassed, but people were so lovely to me.) Now I'm sad that Rakkasah is a full year away again!

Since I worked at the Turquoise booth, I barely got to see any of the performances, so please give me the rundown. The samba/nubian girls on Sunday (was it Saturday or sunday?) were awesome.