Wedding

I attended a wedding yesterday. It started off with a wedding lunch at the bride's house. Lunch was served on the rooftop overlooking the mountains and Mediterranean Sea. The weather was perfect - sunny and breezy. With such picturesque scenery and great weather, I reckoned I could take a nap right after lunch there and then.

Lunch was not some 8 or 10 course meal. It was made up of salad, (lotsa) bread, harira soup, lamb with prunes and fruits - simple yet satisfying. Mint tea or coffee and peanuts were served after the meal. While sipping our tea/coffee and munching on the crunchy peanuts, we were introduced to members of the family - mostly the grandchildren and also the bride who's just 18. It's a norm for girls to get married at such a young age. When I got bored snapping away and almost ran out of conversation topics, we decided it was time to take our leave. Before we got into the car, the father of the bride reminded us to be back for the wedding party later that night.

We went back to the house at about 9pm. Dinner was served at nearly 10pm. Algerians typically have their dinner at about 8 plus 9pm. Considering it was a wedding, like a typical Chinese wedding banquet, dinner would be served late. The dinner menu was uninteresting as we were served the same kind of food we had during lunch. Anyway, I shouldn't complain as they are not very well-to-do.

Food aside, the interesting part was that women were not allowed to dine together with the men. As I was a foreigner, I was made an exception. I dined with the men while the women and their children were gathered at the rooftop dancing away to the beat of the pulsating music. I supposed they already had their dinner before the party began. After dinner, I was invited to join them at the rooftop. The bride was among the crowd, all dolled up, sitting alone on her 'throne' (refer to the pic above). I was told later that the groom was not supposed to be at the wedding party. He would only arrive the next morning to pick up his wife and bring her back to his house where there would be another round of wedding celebration. This was sort of a sending-off-the-bride party.

I sat there watching the women around me. Some looked rather bored and I wondered how they were going to survive the long night ahead of them. The party was supposed to end at 4am or later the next morning. Others, young and old, were busy dancing away, gyrating their hips and shaking their shoulders as if they were blessed with an innate talent for dance. I was completely mesmerised with their sensual movements. Too bad Darling and the rest of his male colleagues didn't get to witness such an interesting sight.

It was also interesting to note that the father of the bride came up to the rooftop a couple of times with a rifle. He would fire a few shots towards the sky. I was told that was part of the tradition.

I had so much fun watching the women dance that I completely forgot that the guys were waiting for me. When I joined them, I could tell they were getting restless and ready to head home. We left shortly after. It seemed that I was the only one having fun that night. =)