attended an arabic wedding last night- our neighbor mariam's family. my first. here's how it went..

sup-rate entrance for mens people and ladies people. i mean totally supprate..
aunt and me went as reps of the girls in our family. as soon as we walked in through strange revolving doors, all signs of male life form ceased.. [it was a beautiful.. things looked much prettier at once *bwuhahahah*].
we tailed about a hundred arab ladies [all in their uniform black abayas] through to the ballroom entrance. i was thinking, hah, this party's going to be fun, everyone will look the same.
up an elevator, which we shared with 2 other arab ladies peoples. party on 2nd floor. as soon as the elevator left the ground, mysterious behaviour ensued on the part of aforementioned arab ladies. swiftly, but surely, they started peeling off layers of clothing.. meaning the abaya business went phut.. what emerged from underneath it all was a gasp-inducing display of stinkily expensive designer ball gowns and things of that genre.. not to mention hairdos and makeup to blow one away.. and this was just the 2 of thems!
the lift reaches 2nd floor.. can hear loud dancy arabic musics..
doors slide open... senses all are hit by very loud music, very strong but beautiful 'itrs' [non-alcoholic, used all across arabia- perfume] and very very intimidatingly beautiful ladies in the fanciest-shmanciest evening wear possible..
row upon row of pretty young things, and pretty not so young things, right from the entrance.. was welcomed in by our neighbor, whom i did a double take at, seeing her for the first time without her abaya.. she was wearing a very clingy choco brown dress with a fishtail thingy, lots of jewellery and more stunning makeup than i thought possible.. then the introductions began.
in very broken arabic we were introduced to young ladies who said 'salaam alaikum, hullo, i mariam's sister's friend.. err.. zat ezzz her nephew, yes?' of course i said yes! it made complete sense.
was mouth agape [in my mind] for at least a half hour.. sleeveless, backless, strap-less, cleavage-revealing dresses on arabs was a revelation to me. and nothing crass or garish. very classy stuff going on. hair and makeup that i thought possible only in movies and advertisements . arab ladies are stunners anyway, even when we can only see their mugs. one can only imagine why men are not allowed in the vicinity..
was thinking about how they were partying wildly with the waiters and photographers around.. then, noticed that all the waiters were actually waitresses, even the photographers were ladies and that there was not a single male human onthe entire floor.. 'serviced by lasses' is apparently the motto of all arab ladies' gatherings. very smart work. great security system in place.


lemme describe the proceedings. big ballroom was divided into 2 equal sections by the aisle down the middle. round tables on either side, where we, the guests, were sitting. stage right at the front.
every so often, young girls either in pairs or by themselves, would do a dainty feminine sway-walk to the music playing, all the way down the aisle. and smile at one another and say things as they passed, and keep going. turns out, all the young things do this at weddings, so the older ladies spot prospective brides for their sons etc.. a very organised sort of matchmaking platform.. i found it most interesting.

the bride finally arrived in a gorgeous ivory-cream wedding gown.. miles of lace, tissue and flower bouquets.. took her fifteen minutes to reach the stage because every few steps she had to stop and turn this way and that so that everyone got a good look at her clothes and her.. [thats the way its done].

food to die for, desserts and fruit in abundance, and the clincher was... patchi chocolates at the end!!!! yeahh.. shamelessly bagged about half a dozen, and made our grand exit..
all in all a very bizarre but happy insight into the private lifestyles of the rich and not famous arab society..
am thinking that these girl-bashes are quite prominent in arabia because, in retrspect, most of the shoppers at the big stores in the malls are arabs. used to be flummoxed when i saw them buying scandalous western wear, but last nigth has made all crystal. apparently, they know how to have their funs.
has definitely made me stop feeling bad about the seemingly bland lives of arabs.. am thoroughly certain that them folks have as much fun as we do, if not more..


that was yesterday..
tomorrow, hwere i cwome....!!!!@!!~
*exits with flourish*