"La Grande Bouffe" or, Now and Then Diplomatic Life Does Include a Swanky Dinner Party.

• Author: Rickert, Jonathan

In Esprit de Corps, Lawrence Durrell's classic satirical riff on diplomatic life in Belgrade during the 1950s, he writes that "it was a slack period diplomatically and as always happened during slack periods the Corps busied itself trying to see which Mission could give the most original parties." Life in general and diplomatic life in particular in the Bucharest of the 1970s and in 1950s Belgrade, of course, were not identical. Nevertheless, there were certain similarities, both being the capitals of "Balkan" communist states and hosting a capable but sometimes underemployed resident diplomatic corps.

Aside from the diplomatic club, a relic from pre-communist times that featured a golf course, six tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and a clubhouse restaurant, Bucharest provided relatively few social outlets for local diplomats. Contacts with Romanians for most embassies in the early 1970s were perforce limited, and tended to be stiff and formal when they did occur. In order to accept an invitation from a foreign (non-communist) mission or diplomat, most Romanians first had to obtain permission from the appropriate authorities. Such permission often was delayed or denied, except to the favored, and reliable, few.

Consequently, frequent, and at times imaginative, parties and other social events characterized diplomatic life among the embassies in Bucharest. The younger staff members of the Western missions, and those of a few other friendly countries such as Japan, Israel, Turkey, and Brazil, were in many cases lively, intelligent, and creative. They were not content to sit quietly at home when they could arrange or attend a good party or other diversion. Far from it!

Though not all were Durrellian in their level of creativity, the corps did produce a number of imaginative parties and other social events. Informal diplomatic gatherings during those years included a Dracula-themed party, a citywide evening scavenger hunt (which drew a rebuke from the Securitate, Romania's secret police, presumably for complicating their surveillance activities), a "Last Tango in Bucharest" bash, a long hike followed by an overnight stay in a Carpathian Mountains cabana north of town, and, reportedly, a nighttime skinny-dipping romp at nearby Lake Snagov. There also were more mundane dinner dances, film nights, wine and cheese parties, and the like. Many were linked to the arrival or departure of diplomatic colleagues, and virtually all were enjoyable.

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