Well, last Saturday night, Walsh celebrated their 50^th anniversary with a magnificent dinner, the Gala. It is by far the biggest dinner at Walsh. Each ticket costs $150. A lot of people including the president, staff, alumni, congressmen and some students attended the dinner. I was invited as well. It was a night full of different kinds of folks, fun and food. It started around 6:30 and finished almost at midnight. The Gala is a black tie dinner and everyone is supposed to wear nice clothes like a suit or tuxedo. Due to the fact that I do not own a tuxedo and I am international, I decided to wear my Afghan traditional “Tuxedo.”

Congressman John Boccieri welcomes me to America

As you can see in the picture, the dress not black at all. In fact it is mostly white. It is my national outfit that is used only in a very special occasions, such as a wedding or a special gathering. When president Hamed Karzai travels to other countries, he wears it as well. It takes around 4 -5 months to completely finish one set of this outfit, because it is mostly sewed by hand.

Indeed, among almost 350 guests at the dinner, I was the only one who was standing out in the crowd because I was wearing something that was totally different. Majority of the guest had no idea where I was from. This allowed them to come up to me and talk. Almost the entire night I was chatting and debating on different topics about Afghanistan. Overall, almost all the people liked my Tuxedo, even though it was not black. The next day, my host father who is a graduate of Walsh, was awarded as the outstanding alumni of the year. We all gathered in Barrett Center for that ceremony.

Me and the Mahoneys (My international friends family) at Alumni brunch

Overall, it was a weekend full of events. From the football game on Saturday morning, to Gala and to Alumni brunch on Sunday, every event was fun and exciting.

Due to the fact that I am leaving to Rome in 10 days I believe my next post will be from Rome. I will make sure to keep you updated from Europe more often.

I will surely miss Walsh…