Dinner in the Dark

It was more than a month ago that this occurred, but leave it to Mom to suggest things for me to write about on the blog. Thanks, Mom.

Each month there is a get together for a group called YAWN (Young Anglo Women's Network), or something like that. I've attended one gathering so far where I met a new friend Ilyssa from New York. We exchanged numbers at the meeting and met a few times the next week before Ilyssa invited me to go to a dinner with she and her boyfriend, Mirko. Here's what I knew: The dinner was a charity dinner to benefit the blind, it cost 25 Euros per person, it was in Prato (I didn't know where that was) and you had to buy tickets beforehand. That's about it.

So the night before the dinner, Ilyssa and I were out with a group of girls when Mirko shows up and in discussion shares with us that the dinner will actually be in the dark. He didn't have many answers to my other questions such as, "Will we be blindfolded?" "Would it be okay if I wear a bright pink neon ensemble?" "What's for dinner?" All we knew is it would be dark. Okay... I can roll with this.

Friday evening comes around and I'm struggling with an outfit to pull together for this. I didn't know the required attire or where this was being held or if there would be an auction... So I decide on a black skirt, heels, a black turtle neck and some mega jewelry. Night out on the town right? As I'm walking to the train station to meet Ilyssa for the 20 minute train to Prato, I already know that I'll be cabbing it home later that night. (Wearing 3 1/2" heels on the uneven cobblestone streets isn't exactly my cup of tea.) I meet Ilyssa and immediately feel overdressed. She is dressed very nicely indeed (hi babe!), but in jeans and flat. I think I'm going to be very out of place. We grab a coffee and hop on the train for 20 minutes of "chiacchiere" (chat) time before Mirko picks us up a the station. He's in jeans as well. Damnit! I hurrily take off some jewels and stuff them in my purse trying to downplay my outfit.  We pick up his friend then head to the dinner.

About 40 minutes later we park and walk down the street to the dinner at the COMMUNITY CENTER. I look like a doofus! Okay, enough about the outfit - at least this dinner was going to be in the dark. So the four of us hang out until they give us an orientation about what would be happening. There were probably about 60 people all together, and they explain (of course, in Italian) that we will be led to assigned tables in a dark room. We are to stay in a single file line with our right hands on the shoulder of the person in front of us. Once seated, we will be served four courses by the blind waiters (blind = cechi in Italian. Pronounced checky.) and have to feel our way around for the water, wine, utensils, etc.

We form our line and head into the room which is pitch black. We make our way to the seats and I'm already about to hyperventilate. We sit and for the first minute or two, we all sat there trying to calm our breathing and just listened to other people finding their ways to their tables as well. The four of us sit on one side of a long table, and at some point four more joined us and sat across from us, but we never really spoke to them. It was like they weren't even there. Luckily I found the wine right away, which was right in front of me. Also lucky for me that nobody really wanted wine because I kept pouring and pouring. I can't be certain how much of the bottle I drank, but I'm pretty sure it was almost gone by the time we left. And it was a magnum.

The first plate came and their waiter made sure to let you know he was coming up on your right side to place the plate in front of you. At first I tried to be proper and use my fork and knife, but then gave up and felt my way around the plate. Meats and cheeses. Okay, I can handle that. Second plate came about 30 minutes later. In the meantime we talked about how completely lost we felt not being able to see anything. The second course was a pasta with ragu, which I'm pretty sure I got all over myself and basically still ate with my fingers. My dining etiquette wasn't exactly up to snuff. I sat slouched halfway down my chair with my legs sprawled out, or with my head resting in my hands on the table. It was very difficult just to keep myself together. The third plate was a variety of meats, which I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have eaten had I been able to see it. It was about 20 minutes after the third plate that Ilyssa and I began to conspire to leave. We were having minor panic attacks and were feeding off each others' energy to bail. After about 10 minutes of discuss, we notified the waiter that we needed guidance out of the room. We were polite but on the verge of a hysterical breakdown.

It was absolutely a great experience to have. Eye-opening, if you will. We were there for more than two hours and I couldn't imagine having to feel that way any longer. I'm glad we did it, but am also glad we left when we did. For the next hour, Mirko and Ilyssa drove me around Prato showing me some of the beautiful squares and public areas as we killed time before I had to catch a train back to Florence. I spent the 20 minutes on the train reflecting on the unforgettable night and being thankful for all that I have. When I got back to Florence, my dogs were barking so I hopped in a cab and headed back home.

A night for the books.