The Masculine Engagment
I have learned so far that I shall not make my hopes high (or even a little bit shorter than high) to get invited to a wedding in Libya as a couple with Mrs.Behi. Apparently separation in weddings is so widely practiced. But as a person, I have already received a couple of invitations to weddings and engagement receptions. This has been a busy summer for people in my department, at least four of them got married and this one was the latest to which I got invited a while ago.
The place was near, address was clear and it was not weekend so I decided to go and did so together with some other colleagues. After shaking hands with the groom and his father, I was guided to a big conference hall with rows of chairs set for people. In the front facing the audience, there were four senior guys dressed in traditional Libyan robes. I heard that one of them was supposed to be the father of the bride and the one in the center, the clergy to announce the marriage. The others were the witnesses and they soon were joined by the father of the groom who was wearing a suite.
Waiters of the hall started to bring glasses of a milky drink for the seated people. It was a mixture of sweetened milk with flavor of almond with which we also had a traditional sweet like a coconut cookie. The hall was almost full when the ceremony started and I could see that the men in front were saying things. Unfortunately, I could not hear a thing because people in the hall were all talking to each other as if nothing formal was going on in front of them. My friend beside me told me that this was the moment when the father of the bride accepts and declares that his daughter would be the wife of the groom who was represented by his father. The groom was by the main door waiting for people to come out and I heard that the bride is normally in another room with close ladies of both families.
In one moment, we realized that the ceremony was finished as all the men in the hall rushed to the exit doors and made a long queue in front of the main exit where the groom was standing to thank them for coming. Some who were not that close went without shaking hand and I waited with friends for the line to get less busy. Almost at the same time, two traditional musicians started to play. One with a drum and the other with a pipe. This did not last very long and they stopped playing right outside the main door.
It was now my turn in the line for shaking hands and congratulating my groom friend.It was a big basket besides him with small silverly diagonal boxes and we each received one. There was a traditional sweet in each box.
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