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Wedding preparation
Sophie getting her hair done Sophie and I were invited to a cousins wedding on Sat the 5th. Weddings around here are very elaborate both for the bridal party as well as the guests. Sophie and I went to a hair salon close to the village of Kharhoura to get our hair done. How wonderful to have one person shampoo your hair, another blow dry it until almost dry and the head stylist uses the round brushes to style it while the other girl holds the blow dryer for him! All this for $5 American dollars!
Afterwards we went back to the village to get ready. The bride was from the village so she was busy getting pictures taken in the gardens around the village. It was very hot and she had a very beautiful elaborate dress on but she continued to keep smiling for pictures for almost 3 hours! Then she got on into a white convertible that she rode on the back of and they drove her through the village while everyone who was attending followed in their cars honking their horns! We followed the car all the way up into the mountain village where the groom was from....almost 50 cars in a long
string snaking our way up the narrow mountain roads. The higher we got in the mountains the more spectacular the view was of the sea and of the houses through out the valleys
Once we arrived in the village (an hour later than when the service was supposed to start!), the bride was met by men in traditional dress with drums and a horn that took her on a procession up to the church. The groom met her outside the church(this was the first time that day he was seeing his bride) and the men encircled the couple while the women started a high pitched trilling with their voices and another woman recited a traditional poem of good luck to them.
The church was packed to capacity and was very warm. The entire service was in Arabic so Sophie and I couldn't understand a thing but just followed along when people stood up or sat down. Luckily the service only lasted 45 minutes. Then the bride and groom took some pictures inside the church.
Afterwards their was a reception in the courtyard. The local men did some traditional dances with swords and flags and then the groom was brought out,
more traditional dancing and then they brought the bride was carried in on a large wicker chair that resembled a clam shell. There were white pillows that she sat on and white feathers decorating it all around. More dancing...you get the picture.
When the bride and groom cut the cake fireworks were set off and illuminated the sky. It was very spectacular!
Besides cake there were all kinds of wonderful pastries to eat as well as punch. No Lebanese event would be complete without eating and drinking!
Sophie chose to go with her cousin Samo (who is a Dr in Beirut) to spend the night and then go swimming the next day. We drove back to the village (mostly in the dark) via the long windy mountain roads. Once we arrived in the village we went over to Lopi's house and everyone sat around and chatted. Lopi brought out fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden along with cheese and pita bread and we had a snack. It was so delicious and fresh! Philip ordered a pizza from the next village over (which I had no idea they could do this because just 8 years ago they didn't even have
The procession
At the groom's village in the mountains. The bridal procession to the church house phones!) but before the pizza could get to us all of the electricity went out! Pitch black darkness except for a sky full of stars. It was spectacular sitting outside in the dark like that and it was so quiet and still. Then the pizza delivery guy showed up on a motorcycle with the pizza after us shouting at him that it should be delivered to our house!
We sat around and ate by candlelight.
It was quite the day and an ethnic experience Sophie and I will never forget! If only more Americans could experience Lebanon like this they would change their minds/views about this beautiful country and their people.
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Janet
non-member comment
wow
Sounds like a full and exciting day and great cultural experience. Glad you are having a great time! Janet