Once again, I'm rushing to get a post done for the last month. I don't know where this deadline comes from, or why I feel so compelled to enforce it, but a post a month should be a pretty realistic goal, yes? Not if you're me, but oh well. And I'd love to say that some selfless reason exists for my lack of posts, like I'm out changing the world, one non-native English speaking student at a time, but I've barely seen my students this whole month. Anyway, the end result is a rush to post by my self-imposed deadline. Here you go!
In my last post, I was about to attend my third wedding in the U.A.E. and shared my experience with weddings here thus far. Now I can summarize the specifics of the latest wedding I had the pleasure of attending - and I can promise that it didn't disappoint!
I felt brave this time and decided to drag Dalila along with me - partly to show her off, partly so I would have a reason to leave early. Yes, yes, I know this is completely selfish, but aren't these just two of the natural perks that come with motherhood? Really, I'd be wrong NOT to take her along for these reasons! I really am glad I brought her, though. She was a huge hit, and provided endless entertainment for the wedding guests. See? I KNEW there was a selfless reason for dragging my little munchkin along to a 9:00 pm wedding!
I'll tell the rest of the story in pictures, because, let's be honest, that's what we all skip to in blogs anyway.
1. What did we wear?
Turns out, even with my fancy dress and Lila's adorable tutu - we were STILL under-dressed!! But we felt pretty and were able to party-down, none the less. And, just because it seems to be a requirement for blogs featuring fashion of any kind, check out my awesome hair pic! Yep - that's a waterfall braid. Hot, right? I couldn't figure out how to end it, so I just threw a flower in and, voila! Done.
2. What did we eat?
BAM!! How about a ginormous plate of goat! This may not look like much, but, I promise you, this plate was the size of your average hubcap and piled about a foot off the table with meat and rice. Delectable meat and rice, I might add. And before this beauty arrived, I was too busy to snap any photos of the other dishes as I was stuffing my face with the other goodies that served as appetizers, including precious little mini desserts (really? mini - who are we fooling!?!), hummous, fruit, yogurt, grilled meats, yummy little fried thingies, etc., etc., etc.. Emirati weddings are NOT to be outdone when it comes to food!
3. What did the wedding look like?
Ok - I have to be kind of careful here. Muslim women here in the U.A.E. frequently choose not to have their pictures taken. So, as I was snapping photos on my hot pink phone that seemed to glow in the low light and send signals clear to the other side of the room, I tried to be discrete about my forbidden photography. Sadly, nonchalance is really not something I'm known for, or, frankly, very good at. So the result is blurry photos that are few and far between. Here are the ones I managed to snap that didn't have too many ladies that seemed to want to avoid the camera.
Here, Lila enjoys standing in her chair. This is the calmest and most well-behaved she was all night.
Lila and Mommy - in another pose where she is somewhat calm. The wedding hall was beautiful, but, I was a little afraid to snap very many photos.
4. Just how wild did Dalila get?
In short, she got VERY wild. Here is one of my favorite pictures of her with this adorable little boy in the full kandora and fancy sandals get-up. (Sidenote - I LOVE to see the little tiny boys dressed just like their daddies in their finest white robes - kandoras - and fancy sandals. Seriously, these men can wear a pair a sandals like nobody's business. I frequently catch myself accidentally admiring a hot pair of what I think are some lovely, bedazzled wedge-heeled sandals, only to learn I've wandered into the men's section!). Anyway, these two were enamored with each other from the moment their devious little toddler eyes locked from across the room. Here, they investigate a hole in the floor and discuss just what things could be thrown into said hole.
5. Is there video evidence of these shenanigans?
Why yes, yes there is. Though, once Dalila became comfortable in her surroundings, she was unstoppable. Literally. One fellow wedding guest mentioned to me the next day that she had almost forgotten I was even at the wedding as I was busy chasing my little one all over the room, making sure she didn't try to perform the table cloth trick and take out a bunch of unsuspecting guests with a tumbling display of food. It was exhausting! Hence, the shaky amateurish display of cinematography that follows:
In the charming video above, Dalila hopes to perform the dance of her people by teaching her little partner how to do-si-do. Little does she know, square dancing (and partner dances in general) are not a significant part of culture in the Middle East. In fact, they are "haram" - or "really, really naughty." Thus, she was left to chase her partner down, as the following clip shows. We need to show her how to play hard-to-get, I think.... (But, to be fair - that little boy was chasing Lila back most of the time - and he even threw in a hug or two that I wasn't able to catch on video!).
In my last post, I was about to attend my third wedding in the U.A.E. and shared my experience with weddings here thus far. Now I can summarize the specifics of the latest wedding I had the pleasure of attending - and I can promise that it didn't disappoint!
I felt brave this time and decided to drag Dalila along with me - partly to show her off, partly so I would have a reason to leave early. Yes, yes, I know this is completely selfish, but aren't these just two of the natural perks that come with motherhood? Really, I'd be wrong NOT to take her along for these reasons! I really am glad I brought her, though. She was a huge hit, and provided endless entertainment for the wedding guests. See? I KNEW there was a selfless reason for dragging my little munchkin along to a 9:00 pm wedding!
I'll tell the rest of the story in pictures, because, let's be honest, that's what we all skip to in blogs anyway.
1. What did we wear?
Turns out, even with my fancy dress and Lila's adorable tutu - we were STILL under-dressed!! But we felt pretty and were able to party-down, none the less. And, just because it seems to be a requirement for blogs featuring fashion of any kind, check out my awesome hair pic! Yep - that's a waterfall braid. Hot, right? I couldn't figure out how to end it, so I just threw a flower in and, voila! Done.
2. What did we eat?
3. What did the wedding look like?
Ok - I have to be kind of careful here. Muslim women here in the U.A.E. frequently choose not to have their pictures taken. So, as I was snapping photos on my hot pink phone that seemed to glow in the low light and send signals clear to the other side of the room, I tried to be discrete about my forbidden photography. Sadly, nonchalance is really not something I'm known for, or, frankly, very good at. So the result is blurry photos that are few and far between. Here are the ones I managed to snap that didn't have too many ladies that seemed to want to avoid the camera.
4. Just how wild did Dalila get?
In short, she got VERY wild. Here is one of my favorite pictures of her with this adorable little boy in the full kandora and fancy sandals get-up. (Sidenote - I LOVE to see the little tiny boys dressed just like their daddies in their finest white robes - kandoras - and fancy sandals. Seriously, these men can wear a pair a sandals like nobody's business. I frequently catch myself accidentally admiring a hot pair of what I think are some lovely, bedazzled wedge-heeled sandals, only to learn I've wandered into the men's section!). Anyway, these two were enamored with each other from the moment their devious little toddler eyes locked from across the room. Here, they investigate a hole in the floor and discuss just what things could be thrown into said hole.
5. Is there video evidence of these shenanigans?
Why yes, yes there is. Though, once Dalila became comfortable in her surroundings, she was unstoppable. Literally. One fellow wedding guest mentioned to me the next day that she had almost forgotten I was even at the wedding as I was busy chasing my little one all over the room, making sure she didn't try to perform the table cloth trick and take out a bunch of unsuspecting guests with a tumbling display of food. It was exhausting! Hence, the shaky amateurish display of cinematography that follows:
In the charming video above, Dalila hopes to perform the dance of her people by teaching her little partner how to do-si-do. Little does she know, square dancing (and partner dances in general) are not a significant part of culture in the Middle East. In fact, they are "haram" - or "really, really naughty." Thus, she was left to chase her partner down, as the following clip shows. We need to show her how to play hard-to-get, I think.... (But, to be fair - that little boy was chasing Lila back most of the time - and he even threw in a hug or two that I wasn't able to catch on video!).
So ends our first wedding season here in the United Arab Emirates. We learned a lot, ate even more, and generally, felt awestruck at every turn. But what an amazing experience each wedding has been for me. Now I can look at that "Platinum Weddings" show and say, "Meh. I've seen better."
