CAST OF CHARACTERS

Dearest Friends,

One thing I found most interesting about life overseas was the cast of characters -- and I do mean characters!  I'd grown up in your typical 50's suburban neighborhood, where all the hubbies went off to work each morning, most all the wives stayed home with the kiddos, and everyone went to church on Sundays.  I remember being quite shocked when a guy I liked in high school said he lived in an apartment.  I'd never known anyone who didn't live in a house.  Life as an ex-pat was going to be quite the eye-opener.

E. shows us the ropes

Life o' the party

First of all there was Princess D, who reminded me of Zsa Zsa Gabor, with her exotic accent and regal attitude.  Rumor had it that her "hubby" wasn't really her hubby, for there was one back in the states who refused to grant a divorce.  There was the beautiful young woman who's blonde cherub son was three years old before the father decided to claim them as his family.  I wish he never had, for they deserved so much more.  He got kicked out of the Pula Rita for hurling one of their employees through a plate-glass window when he was pissed about something.  He was always pissed about something.  Then there was E., who reminds me a lot of Sue Sylvestre on the TV show Glee -- all rough and tough on the outside, with a bit of marshmallow hidden underneath.  She'd give me grief about being so young and googly-eyed, then show up on my porch with some containers for me to store my leftovers in, or an offer to show me the ropes down in the market.  She was a tall, blonde American, but her hubby was a wee little black-haired Scotsman who played the accordion, and who obviously brought out the marshmallow in her.

The Irish Lads

Three Musketeers: S., A., and Dear Hubby

Last, but not least, were the bachelors.  John's boss B. wasn't much older than us, but was very quiet and reserved.  The young guys loved to tease and joke with him, but it was obvious they had a great deal of respect for him.  S. and A. were John's two best buddies.  S. , a big ol' blonde from Tennessee, is the one who keeled over at the sight of a hypodermic.  A. had been in the Peace Corps for a couple of years before coming to work for B&R.  His claim to fame was that he could roll himself up in a sarong, drop down anywhere on the ground, and be sleeping like a baby in a matter of seconds.  There were a couple of Irish guys, who were a hoot and a holler, though I could hardly understand a word they said.  And then there were the twins, who thought they were God's gift to women, and were wilder than a March hare.  With characters such as these, things were bound to get interesting, were they not?