Today in my mind was the REAL wedding day. Not that the night before wasn't fun, but I needed to see some blushing brides in order for it to be the real thing.... The day got off to an annoying start, but got much better as it progressed. Waed & Muhammad told us that we had to meet downstairs to do something for our Visas at 9 a.m. We reluctantly agreed. I had no idea what we were actually doing, and was extremely hungry the entire time. We went to some smokey tourism building and had to wait around without knowing what was going on. It was whatever until they fingerprinted me!!! (that made it TERRIBLE) Nicki later assured me that they did that in Copenhagen too, so I was not as concerned, but it's still very weird to me. I found some gum in my bag that made me feel a little better. The whole process wasn't that long, but it was NOT what I wanted to do on wedding weekend...
We got home and got something to eat. We had to meet Waed for hair at ~2:30. Long story short, the woman was trying to rip us off, most likely because we are American and it is assumed that we have the money anyway, so we would go for it-- little did she know that Waed would NOT stand for that. Molly & Laurel got their hair done but Nicole, Sarah and I walked out. I was happy to do this because I wanted to actually wash my hair and go to the gym, which we did after leaving the hair "saloon". Waed agreed to do our hair with her own curling iron, so it actually worked out perfectly. Not onlly did she curl our hair, but it lasted for DAYS after the wedding- I joked (but wasn't joking) that I was going to hire her next semester every Thursday to do my hair for the weekend...
Despite waking up at 9 am, the day really sped by quickly and before we knew it- it was 7:30 and a fully dressed and ready Muhammad was knocking on our door to find Nicole still in lounge-wear and me still getting ready. Woops! We hustled and went downstairs- back on the 10 person bus....
Men and women are completely separated for this celebration and the couple (couples in this case...) so we said good-bye to the boys, and went upstairs. The wedding location was VERY swanky. An uncountable amount of golden chandeliers, and very nice table settings. There was a big dance floor, and some sort of stage thing. On the other side of the room there was a staircase leading to a closed door (where the couple(s) switch from men room to women's room). It was a big production. Very soon after we entered, the couples arrived. Both grooms were dashing, and the wives were very pretty. I think I preferred the one who was wearing a wedding headscarf- I thought it was really pretty and tasteful. Waed told me later that particular bride recently lost her mother, and decided to wear a headscarf because she knew it was what her mother would have wanted, which made it even more beautiful. The wedding was different than American weddings (not just because of the absence of alcohol). Every aspect of the night was recorded with a video camera and projected on big screens across the wedding hall. The couples were the center of attention (as they should be), but it was different--it almost seemed like a reality show because of all of the cameras. Also the cake (seen below) was fake!! The real cake was not as delicious as the fake one looked (see below #2).
There was a LOT of dancing. We were basically part of the family, which was cool. When the couples entered we stood in line with Waed and her sisters and mom clapping and smiling. From there the couples went to the dance floor and had their first dance to Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On (aliiii....)- it was beautiful. We were all standing around watching, and continued to stand and watch after the wedding dance. I was taller than a lot (maybe all?) of the other guests, and everyone kept on asking me to crouch down or move. It was so annoying and often impossible to satisfy them, so I eventually just ignored. We took some breaks from dancing, but somehow Nicole was left on the dance floor- unable to escape. It was funny. At the end of the night some men (not our boys--- strictly family members) came into the womens' room and danced with us. A lot of Waed's relatives introduced themselves to us through her.... The very last song of the night was Pitbull (REDONE) "I Know You Want Me", and I really GOT DOWN to it... good last song. This ceremony was much shorter than last night's, but it was definitely sweet too-- little did I know, the best was yet to come.
Throughout our time here thus far, we have witnessed probably a million wedding processions in the streets. Decorated cars parade through the streets honking their horns, and yelling out the window. We were all looking forward to this aspect of the wedding which occurred after the 2nd celebration. The boys were fed (mansif-- luckyy) at this event, so they were really energetic... the girls not so much. I got into it though, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. The boys screamed a lot of funny (but appropriate) english things out the window, which was particularly hilarious thinking about it-- I bet most of the Jordanians could not understand what they were saying.
After the wedding procession we went to our favorite restaurant, and I had Waed order for me-- I was VERY happy she did.... look at the picture below. I bet u can guess why. Yet another great night fee al Ordun!
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