An Emirati Love Story

After the wedding in class, the students were teasing Sultan saying that his family is very rich.

"Miss, his father gave him 100,000 Dhms (about $27,000)!"

"No Miss", Sultan said.  "That isn't true.  He only gave me 75,000 Dhms, 25 goats, 25 sheep and 4 camels."  Oh is that all?

He then told me that the wedding cost 450,000 Dhms.  He had to buy so much gold and jewelry, gifts for he family, and there were 1000 guests!

It is traditional for the bride to get many expensive gifts such as diamond jewelry and gold.  Sultan said that all he got, as a present from his new wife, was a Rolex watch (which I got to try on) and a gold bracelet.  But apparently his family does have money. Sultan's father has a master's degree.  He was getting his PhD in politics and management in Egypt.  The government didn't like what his father was writing and they confiscated all his research and kicked him out of the country.

I asked him how he  met his bride and this is what he told me:

He said the family goes to her family and tells them their son wants to marry their daughter and they have to find out what the family wants in return...gold, money?

He only saw his wife one time to see if he wanted to marry her.  The second time he saw her was at the wedding ceremony.  It was her parents and Sultan.  The religious person (imam) asked her father if he gives her hand in marriage.  He said, "I do".  "Just like in the movies!" according to Sultan. Then the imam asked Sultan if he would like to marry her.  He said, "I do."  Then the imam went into a room where the bride was (no one can see her) and asked her from behind a screen if she agrees to marry.  She said "I do."  The idea behind this is that she agrees to marry freely without the pressure of her family there. 

They were not allowed to be alone together until after the big ceremony, which in this case was going to be for 6 whole months!  They could sit together with the family and basically just nod and smile at each other.  Awkward!

He said the father wasn't nice to him before the wedding.  I asked him why not.  He said maybe because he felt the same way he felt when his big sister and oldest of the family and first to get married got married.  He said he felt angry; jealous.  I asked him why.  Since families stay together until marriage, he felt like she was being taken away from him; that they were very close.  He said his father cried that day and even his sisters did too.

And that's the Emirati love story.

Another Very Emirati Wedding

I was invited to a very "colorful" student of mine's wedding.  Sultan is very charismatic and very skilled at being absent from class with an array of inventive excuses.  He was absent for 2 days because he had to have some teeth pulled, he missed an exam because he had to go to court, he asked for 2 weeks off  for his wedding and honeymoon (plus he took the week before off).  It goes on and on.

Anyway, a few teachers and I decided to attend.

The women and men celebrate the wedding in separate tents or party halls.  Of course I was in the women's tent which had about 600 women there.  Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed so I will have to use my best descriptive skills to paint the picture of this amazing circus! 

The room had about 60 long tables set up all facing a big stage with a runway at the front. On the stage is a large bed for the bride to sit on after she makes her entrance. There was also a video screen showing the dancing and celebrations going on in the men's room, but the men don't get to see what the women are up to! The tables were full of cans of pepsi and coke and small water bottles.  Filipino women came around offering exotic juices (non-alcoholic).  There were also huge baskets of fruit, and platters of lamb, camel meat, rice, bread and pickled vegetables (no thanks).

Upon arrival, we were greeted by some of Sultan's sisters who were lavishly dressed in sequined evening gowns with a ton of make-up that would make any drag queen proud, and hair piled about 6 inches off the tops of their heads.  Some of these women looked amazing, but most looked inappropriate!  What makes this such an amazing spectacle is that here in the UAE, women are usually covered from head to toe in black abayas and scarves to conceal their faces or niqabs.

I've always seen these amazing, slinky dresses at the mall, but had no idea when or where a woman could wear one.  But if there are no men in the room, then what's the point?

Just as I asked myself this question, the young women got up on a big stage and started dancing around a gyrating for the...mothers and grandmothers!  Why?  Well, they are looking for suitable prospects for their sons and grandsons.

Around 10:30 the bride finally made her long anticipated entrance. She slowly walked down the aisle flanked by her mother and sisters with a Filipino photographer just a few steps ahead snapping away with her every step.  She looked pretty grim.  Her dress was an amazing "meringue"; white and tight and probably weighed 20 lbs.

Among the 600 female guests were two sheikhas.  A sheikha is the wife of a sheikh .  One was one of the wives of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan.  He was the one that united the Emirates together and was the first president of the UAE for 30 years until his death in 2004.  Another  was the wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum who is the Prime Minister and Vice President of the UAE, and the constitutional monarch of Dubai.  We couldn't help but notice them because they were flanked by female amazon bodyguards dressed in camouflage.

In the meantime, there were 2 women going around to the tables taking cans of coke, huge piles of meat wrapped in bread, and fruit and just shoving it all in plastic bags.  Apparently these women are scavengers.  It is common for these women, probably Pakistani and probably poor, to go around crashing weddings and taking food.  I say probably because she was completely covered except for her hands, so I couldn't tell what her nationality was.  But I guess this is an accepted practice since there is plenty of food leftover anyway that would probably just go to waste.

One of these women came over to our table and started taking our food.  Moments later, another woman from the wedding party came over and scolded the Pakistani woman.  I thought she was going to be kicked out, but instead they made her sit in the back of the room as a sort of "time out."  I realized that she committed the faux pas of taking our food while we were still at the table!

Another woman came over to us and explained in broken English that these women come to weddings and take enough food to last them all week until the next wedding.  "Haram!"  (it's a sin!)

Finally, Sultan made his entrance surrounded by his family (mother, father and brothers).  Apparently this is unusual as the groom usually comes alone.  The women were sure to cover themselves up with their abayas as the men entered the hall.  He walked over to his bride waiting on stage and gave her a kiss on the forehead (a sign of respect).  And then the whole family posed for photographs.  We took that as our cue to head out and head to Trader Vic's where we could get some real drinks!

Just a Few More

So, Thomas had just a few more days left with me.  Here are a few highlights of those days.

Some kind of Chinese circus at Bawadi Mall.

We attempted a trip to Wild Wadi, but it was too full and we were going to have to wait an hour to get in!  We went to the public beach instead to cool off a bit before heading back to Al Ain.  Burj Al Arab in the background.

Hey!

The Burj

Nap time with the kitties!

Pool party at the Hilton!

The Honda hits 200,000km!

Thomas and I took a nighttime drive up Jebel Hafeet to find a newly constructed "Hollywood" style Al Ain sign.  It only lasted a few days before it was taken down again.  Weird.

Again, up on Jebel Hafeet.  It appears to be some toboggan style ride.  Rumor has it that someone fell out and died and that's why they don't run it anymore.