The wedding was wonderful. The bride is a friend of my mother's from about 30 years back at Tunis Air. Both the party on Sunday and the ceremony (which was really mostly a party) on Tuesday were chock-a-block full of music. Just a side bar, I have recently started using weird phrases like "chock-a-block" for no apparent reason besides that I am struggling to speak and write in English correctly these days). The group on Tuesday night was an all women's ma'luf ensemble led by the 'ud player. They were having such a good time playing and played beautifully together: keyboard player (with micro-tones of course, violinist, kanuun, 'ud, two drums, darbuka, and various singers. I am still learning how to attach video to this blog, so I will post a video when I figure it out...
Our role at the wedding was strictly to sit and gorge ourselves on hoarderves, fruit juices, and tiny tasty sweets. Candied almonds are a wedding and baby shower specialty here. As soon as I'd told my mom I was too full, she'd find sometime else to put on my plate and insist "qoul, qoul!" (eat it! eat it!). We visited with the bride's nuclear famility, particularly her mother, and watched the bride and her new husband sit in the spotlight on their silver sofa. I wont try to describe it; I'll just put in a few pictures. My mom told me that before the wedding, the bride's mother covers her daughter in warm / hot sugar with lemon used to remove all of the hair on her body like a hot wax (besides on her head). Traditionally, brides are kept indoors for a month at least and fed only sweet and fatty foods to keep them as plump and pale as possible (this is attractive). The ceremony of signing the vows is short and not celebrated in the same fassion as in the US. It's treated more as business. As soon as that's done, some religious man reads a sura from the Qur'an. Everyone joined in towards the end and recited some sort of prayer of good wishes. What followed? Of course, more music, dancing, and eatting.
Here are some photos of the wedding:
The bride and groom seated on their silver couch. They were on display int he spotlight in the front of the reception hall for almost the entire evening (they took a short dancing break). Most guests make a short visit some time during the evening, typically just before they leave, to give the couple their best wishes.
Just a sampling of some of our tasty treats. Lots of sugar, almonds, and pistachio. Wonderful baklava as well.
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