An Egyptian Wedding

Today I went to a wedding here in Cairo with Ma'andi and Omar. There are a few different steps in the wedding process. There is a dating period, an engagement ceremony, an official documentation ceremony, and the actual wedding celebration. What we attended was the documentation, which takes place in the mosque. The bride and groom sit at a table in the front of the room with a religious official and the bride's father. They all fill out and sign various forms, then the father and groom hold hands and exchange words (I don't know what they said because it was obviously in Arabic).

The room we were in was actually an extension to the mosque, but I did get a chance to go into the actual mosque and look around. In the pictures you can see the candles hanging from the ceiling, me in front of the prayer niche, and one of the attributes of God written on the wall (there are several other attributes like this one written the whole way around the mosque). Pretty cool stuff. After the ceremony everyone goes crazy applauding and yelling. We congratulated the couple and took some pictures.

I thought I would include some pictures of Cairo as well to give you all an idea of what it's like. For lunch we went out for koshari which is a traditional dish made up of rice, macaroni, lentils, chick peas, and a tomato sauce. It sounds like a strange combination, but it's actually really good (and super cheap - LE 4 for a bowl that I couldn't even finish). There's also a picture of a nice woman who helped us get out of our parking space. A lot of times people will help you park, watch your car while your gone, and help you get out of the space, and then you tip them when you leave. Also included is a picture of a Coca-Cola sign in Tahir Square and a man and child riding on a motor cycle.

Life has been good here in Cairo lately. I'm getting into a regular rhythm and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable getting around and shopping and all those regular everyday things. My work is actually really interesting - I'm learning all about HTML and how to create web sites. I still have a long while left, but time is going by quickly. I love hearing from you all! If you read this make sure you drop me a line, or feel free to send me an e-mail!