Inbreeding confusion
I was cordially invited to a Yemeni wedding of the brother of the husband of the daughter of the first wife of the husband who's second wife is our immediate neighbour. It can get very complicated working out all the relationships here (especially when 2 sisters often marry 2 brothers who are also their cousins!).
No cameras or birds allowed
The invitation cards are usually simple A5 cards detailing the families of the bride and groom and the date, time and place. Also they state that NO camera phones are allowed (it goes without saying that normal cameras are not allowed either, in this culture) and children are "birds which need to stay in their nests" i.e. please don't bring children with you, although there are usually quite a few children present. I left Kira and Isaiah at home with Paul.
Tattooed ladies
The women love to have an opportunity to dress up and take hours over applying bold and bright make-up and putting up their long hair. Usually the day before the wedding, an "artist" will visit the house and draw intricate designs of "nachsha" or "henna" (dark brown tattoos) on the women's hands, arms and feet. The women then have to sit for a few hours to let the dye absorb into the skin.
OTT make-up
The make-up that is considered beautiful here makes them look like a cross between a clown, a French mime artist and Michael Jackson (Peace Be Upon Him)! I think they probably thought I wasn't wearing any make-up as mine was so minimal.
One of our neighbours tried to demonstrate Yemeni make-up techniques on my face a few months ago, but not quite full-on Yemeni style
Dressed to kill
The women choose their outfit and get dressed up. The older women usually wear a "dera" which is a loose dress made out of thin fabric (often with lots of sequins on). It's a little disconcerting as the fabric is see-through, so you can see their bra and petticoat underneath- a sight Paul is glad not to be allowed to see! The younger women usually wear long dresses fully of sparkling sequins and beads. Both types of dress would cause road accidents if the women wore them outdoors without a Balto on top, the latter due to blinding headlamp reflections.
Women are the same all over the world
I drove to the wedding hall with a car full of our neighbours. We had planned to leave at 7.15pm however one of the girls was still at the hairdressers and didn't return until 8pm so we were all waiting around until she arrived. However it doesn't matter if you are late to the wedding and you can arrive and leave at any stage.
Dancing to the warbling
The wedding hall was "quite small" for about 200 guests and had rows of plastic white chairs with an area at the front for dancing, along with 2 golden thrones for the bride and groom. When we arrived, the party was in full swing, with women dancing a simple stepping dance to the accompaniment of a woman playing the drum and another lady singing/warbling. There was lots of kissing and greeting of lots of family members, and lots of stares at the foreigners (me and Philippa!). We bravely joined in the dancing which was fun and got lots of approval from the women!
Entrance of the bride
About 9.45pm the bride arrived and entered the room to lots of ululating, clapping and singing from the women who crowded around her as she tried to walk down to the thrones! Initially she looked rather nervous but soon began to smile. She was wearing a big white wedding dress with lots of sparkley silver jewelery, henna up her arms, crazy make-up and a big hair style!
Most of the guests were from the groom's family as he was living in Aden, whereas the bride was from the village so only her mother and sisters had accompanied her to the city for the wedding.
Bride but no Groom
The female members of the groom's family then handed around bags, with a can of fizzy drink and a packet of cake, to all the guests. The groom didn't enter the wedding hall but waited downstairs for his bride to appear later. Sometimes the groom chooses not to enter the wedding hall to save the women from all the hassle of covering up and then uncovering again when he leaves with the bride half an hour later.
We said our farewells and left shortly after the bride arrived. We heard that the celebrations finished around 11pm when the bride joined the groom and they traveled to his house in a specially decorated car.
