New Culture, New Language, BIG SURPRISE!!!!

Well, we have now discovered that our understanding of the Egyptian culture and language is not where we thought it was. Mr. Siede, our taxi driver, has a very limited English vocabulary and our Arabic vocabulary is even less. We thought he had been telling us for weeks that his daughter was getting married and had invited us to her wedding. Stacey had surgery this week and Mr. Siede came to visit her in the hospital. While he was there our language teacher was also there. We started talking about the "wedding" and then came the BIG SURPRISE!! We didn't attend the wedding-we attended the engagement party!!! We thought it was a little strange that her dress was red but we just thought dresses could be any color here. We also thought it was strange that the only thing that happened that evening was dancing. So, now we have been invited to the real wedding that will be held sometime in the next few months when the couple's apartment is ready.

Below is the rest of the story of the eventful evening! Scroll to the bottom to see Matt do the unthinkable!!!

After the couple arrived the mother came out with a tray full of chocolates covered in colorful foil with the "wedding jewelry" snuggled in the middle. She paraded around the room to show off the jewelry. All of the children in the room wanted a piece of candy but all were refused except for our three children-another priveledge of being an honored guest. The jewelry was then presented to the couple to make the engagement final.

Then the party really started with dancing, dancing and more dancing. Meredith even joined in the fun with the bride. Many of the women even did belly dancing motions without their bellies showing!

Matt doing the unthinkable!!!!