Poster for 80's Night
There is virtually no entertainment in Islamabad, and certainly no dance clubs. So I decided to organize and host a “Back to the ’80s” costume and dance party. The Embassy had a club, and offered to let me use their patio, speakers, amplifier and offered to run an outdoor bar and buffet.
I created a large poster, and pushed the advertising all over the Embassy grounds.
During the weeks leading up to the event, I downloaded ’80s music videos and played them at the club during happy hour. And then on the day of the party, I was granting Embassy Access requests and saw that 78 foreign diplomats (many Brits) had requested permission to come. Word of anything SAFE and fun spreads like fire here, so my diplomat access list also contained names of Turks, Australians, French, and Kazakhs! I have no idea how a person from Kazakhstan would dress for an ‘80s costume party! I even got a request from Nick Schifrin who is a reporter for ABC News.
After setting up my DJ station, I went into the club’s bathroom and dressed up for the night. As I walked back to the dance area, no one recognized me, not even the staff who had been working closely with me for the past hour. I found a vintage Apple t-shirt on eBay, some rainbow suspenders, a great head of hair, blinding white paints, and some shades. Perfect ’80s Apple tech geek mixed with that ’80s dance floor hair.
The party was a lot a fun, and we blasted ’80s music until 1:am. Due to a curfew we had to end the party at that time, but we were able to dance for 6 hours. What a blast!
my '80s DJ outfit
