Only a couple of days or so late, two colleagues who came from Quebec to be among my new colleagues in Abu Dhabi celebrated the festival of St Jean Baptiste, aka John the Baptist, patron saint of French-Canadians.
Andre Forget, who took the photograph, of which more in a second, and Ray Beauchemin chose the theme for their joint flatwarming parties. They are neighbours in Inshallah Towers, the building into which, for many months, I also hoped to move; it was due to be ready by the turn of the year but was not completed until two or three weeks ago, long after I'd given up.
La Fête St Jean-Baptiste is June 24, but Andre and Ray, who also has a website called Salut! (the upstart!*) had to wait until the weekend (which starts and, for some of us, finishes on Fridays in Abu Dhabi) for the party.
And the picture? Cannot yet say which of the following - if any - explains the alarming detail in Andre's snap:
* I used DIY in an attempt to remedy one of the numerous defects to manifest themselves at my own flat
* after absent-mindedly starting to chant Viva espana, I found myself in the company of German football louts
* fashion statements come in many forms
* I needed something to write about in my column for The National
All will be revealed in the days to come.......or , more precisely, on Wednesday (a clue, for my more alert readers, to the solution for my single-question quiz).
* named after his book Salut! The Quebec Microbrewery Beer Cookbook
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