The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2003

One has to think of the poor kitties and all.” Mrs. Ambassador did not require much convincing. A departure was set for the next Saturday morning, andMrs. Ambassador and Fawn happily discussed appropriate attire for an ambassador’s wife on such an outing. Many of us are blinded by love. Mrs. Ambassador did not notice that Fawn’s enthusiasm for her mother’s trip was not motivated by an interest in promoting eco- tourism. While promising to spend a quiet evening baby- sitting Cassidy, Fawn — in the most extreme abuse of Right Speech in this narrative — put out the word at the International High School that an All-Night Full Moon Residence Rave would take place on Saturday, blissfully bereft of parental supervision. We waved good-bye that Saturday morning to Mrs. Ambassador and Mrs. Williamson, following the aged Chinese truck in Mrs. Williamson’s Ultra-Destroyer 6000 Sport Utility Vehicle. We feigned cheerfulness, but the gardeners, maids, security staff and I were uneasy. We knew that young amateur chemists at the International High School were harvesting local plants and mixing them with various compounds to make a potent new substance, which improved their popularity with their peers. Fawn exercised her charms on one young chemist and, inspired, he came up with a newmood-altering substance, based on the species Valeriana officinalis. Fawn gained face amongst her peers by announcing that this new substance would debut at the All-Night Full Moon Residence Rave. This ensured attendance by many, because the substance was both novel and not yet, technically, illegal. I n such circumstances, a cook can take refuge in her art. I cooked my specialities for the assembled youth, who perhaps lack discernment but not appetite. I endured the hours of loud repetitive music from the back yard, unpleasant smells, mock-outraged screams of young ladies being thrown into the pool, and the occasional interruption of my kitchen solitude by trysting youth in search of privacy. The party was entering an especially fevered state when Soh, the security guard at the front gate, came run- F O C U S 44 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 3 T HE R EMINGTON