A Wedding Marathon

Last weekend, we went to Majd's family's house again in Jenin.

When I arrived, her mother said, “Welcome!” “Sit down!” “Eat!” As I had been practicing my Arabic, she had apparently been practicing her English.

One night, they told me we were going to a wedding. We dressed up, put on makeup and piled into the car. Many of you will be amused (or horrified) that my shoe choice was just the sandals that I wear every day. I even brought heels, but I haven't dug them out of my suitcase yet, and have worn them so little in the past that I can't remember if they hurt my feet.

Majd's mom is a madwoman behind the wheel, racing up and down hills and around corners, driving onto the gravel on the side of the road to pass cars, and sending me flying out of my seat as we sail over bumps and potholes.

As usual, I have pretty much no clue what is going on. When we arrive at our destination, only half the car gets out. It turned out that this was only wedding one of two, and we were stopping only for Majd's sister to make an appearance, but all I knew was that I was losing my much relied-upon translator.

We entered a very crowded hall with an isle down the middle, a stage at one end, and the bridal party gathered at the other The wedding march with Arabic lyrics was playing on repeat. Someone popped a confetti popper and the bride entered. She wore a white dress and walked down the isle, with the bridesmaids walked ahead, spraying what looked like shaving cream. The couple said their vows, exchanged rings, and began to dance, as I was dragged out the door once more.

We loaded back into the car, drove up and down some more hills, and arrived at our next destination. There were children outside wearing suits and party dresses and climbing on the banisters. We entered yet another crowded hall with the wedding march playing and squeezed our way into one of the goups of people standing between aisles. However, this wedding, too, we left very soon. “Too many people,” my hosts explained. “No dancing.” So we spent the evening at Majd's aunt's house instead.