Last Wednesday I had the great opportunity to go to a Jordanian wedding. It was a great experience!
Claudia - one of the other interns at our office - was invited by the sister's bride (Sawsan), with whom she works on a music project i Zarqa. All the four of us went there. This kind of hospitality is amazing!
We arrived at the wedding just in time to see the bride and bridegroom arrive in their car decorated with flowers.
When they stepped out of the car five musicians started to play Jordanian music with tambourines, a drum, a bagpipe and singing. The women made this traditional loud shrill shout of joy. The spirit was high! The men began a classical wedding dance (zafee) which shaped a portal through which the troop followed through the hall. In the middle of the portal an old lady with a walker swung a bouquet of violet plastic flowers over her head again and again. She turned out to be the mother of the bridegroom. We guessed her to be at least 80.
When the troop reached the staircase the music faded out and the troop split up. We were excited! We were three girls who went with the women and the small children upstairs and Thomas (the only male intern) went with the men into a great hall downstairs.
The big hall we entered upstairs was overwhelmingly decorated with white satin on all tables and chairs and white plastic lilies where placed everywhere. In the middle of the back wall a huge throne of satin and lilies was arranged. But the best part was... Every girl in the near family of the bride and the bridegroom took of their headscarf and black coats. Wauw! Long black and dark brown curls unfold everywhere, hair slides glinted and naked shoulders and colourfull long and short dresses appeared. This experience was a secret of the women (and the bridegroom), and I put away my camera.
When every woman and child were seated the bride and the bridegroom entered, and loud traditional Jordanian party music was played. Three girls were filming the entre and everybody could follow the show on a huge screen. There were around 80 women and children, and around 60 men were downstairs.
The couple was filmed closely for the rest of the night and to be honest the bridegroom didn't look cheerful about it at all... Maybe he was just nervous being the only man in the room. The couple started dancing closely, but the next song was more lively and the bride began a very flirty dance around the groom. This was special.. As regard the split up between men and women the wedding seemed very conservative to us, but this flirty dance and shy groom in the middle of all these beautiful women was really a surprising sight.
We had the clear impression that this was the night where the man was let into the world of the woman and not the other way around.
After the party, when we talked to Thomas, we were assured that the wedding mostly had been the girl's night. There had been some dancing in the men's room, but the fact that the newly married couple was in the room of girls in most of the evening made up a special atmosphere. At times the atmosphere and the music became a little to thick of love and kodak moments to me.. especially when they played Brian Adams, "Everything I do, I do it for you". But maybe it's just my Scandinavian reserved nature..
A funny and special moment appeared when the wedding cake was brought in. Suddenly the music changed to pumping techno. The newly married couple stood up from the throne and holding a sword together they cut the cake!
Afterwards the music turned back to the romantic Jordanian love songs.. Songs full with the word "habibi". (When a girl sings this word, it means "my love", but if "habibi" is used between girls or between boys, the meaning is "my good freind"). The first bit of cake was eaten by the couple together... couldn't keep thinking of "Lady and the Tramp". We also had some wedding cake and later we joined the dance. We also had a little present of candy - a fine little souvenir.
To get a small break we went to the toilet and when we came out in the front hall a covered lady told us to sit with her and a woman with American origin (also a muslim). After the normal "how are you?", "where you from?" and "are you studying or working in Jordan?" the covered lady bend over and spoke to the American woman.. She looked up and asked: "Are you ready for marriage?". We laughed and told her that we were all married - though none of us are..
When we sat by the two women in the front hall, the American woman suddenly grapped her mobile.. "Ohh.. are the men coming up now?". We went into the hall and all women put on their headscarfs.
Only the near family came upstairs, Thomas didn't. The bride was decorated with pieces of jewelleries and congratulated. The men started dancing the traditional "dabke" and some younger women joined.. It was late now and we looked around for Sawsan. She gave Claudia a big hug and started to cry, but still she was all happy smiles. She was crying because her sister now would be leaving the family.
We kissed goodbye - one kiss at the right cheek and three or five at the left. When we arrived before the party we only had two on the left...
