Stories and photos from my time living in the Middle East

[BehindBlueI's]

I was talking to my wife about the thread on paying for weddings. Her cousin just got engaged and she had some photos from the engagement party. Holy crap they dropped some cash on that. This cousin lives in Saudi Arabia, which I don't know much about. My wife says they do very opulent weddings and it's customary to show off how much money you have by being pretty flagrant about wasting money on the wedding, which can last a week or more. Screw that. It reminds me of an Indian friend who was working his backside off so he could coat his daughter in powdered gold for her wedding, which was going to cost him about a year's salary, because that's how things are done in India if you want to be perceived as upper class. Again, screw that.

Anyway:

Cousin and his fiancee:

(the lady in the green is another of my wife's cousins)

The attendant's dresses cost $700 US or so, and my wife had no idea how much the fiancee's dress would cost except "more". They are at a rental hall for the celebration. In Qatar the wealthy used to put up huge tents, like circus tent huge, and have week long parties before weddings. The divide between the haves and have nots is truly huge there.

 

[T.Lex]

haha

Gotta say the mom (and to a lesser extent the other cousin) don't look happy.

 

[historian]

Less is more for makeup. Someone should tell them that....

 

[T.Lex]

I guess those pics... uh... put to rest the idea that the burka/hijab is a universal requirement. The decolletage is strong.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

haha

Gotta say the mom (and to a lesser extent the other cousin) don't look happy.

That's his mom, and my wife said, "she never smiles."

Less is more for makeup. Someone should tell them that....

For some reason, that's the tradition for these parties. It's done in a salon especially for this sort of thing. It's probably just another way to make it expensive and show off, as the whole point is to be over the top.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Social media is just as big in the Middle East as it is here, perhaps bigger as the odds of having friends and family in different countries is higher. The countries are smaller, and people move for work and school about like how we move state to state. Anyway, some funnies my wife has shared with me lately. Most of them are...not worth repeating. I'm not sure if it's translation kills the funny or if the sense of humor is just that different, but she's busting up and I'm shrugging and saying I guess you had to be there. Some things are univeral, though:

Posted for New Years (translated) : God, this year please help me to gain money and to lose weight. Apparently there was some mix-up last year...

There's also a joke about a guy and his obese Egyptian girlfriend that I can't figure out a way to tell without getting banned...but I thought it was funny. The "fat Egyptian" is apparently sort of the "dumb Polack" joke of the Gulf. The reason for the stereotype well predates the people who tell the jokes.

 

[IndyDave1776]

 

[BehindBlueI's]

My sister in law finally crashed the car seriously enough to injure someone, my mother in law. She was going way too fast in to a roundabout, skidded off and over the curb (nearly rolling the car, apparently) and nearly struck a traffic cop.

The interesting bit is she posts on Facebook a prayer for her mother to get better...and the traffic cop finds the post. My sister in law lies and says it was her "twin sister" driving, but I don't think the cop bought it. The family ends up having a chat with the guy, and the funny part is when he recounts "becoming Muslim" as he saw the car coming at him. This is the equivalent of us saying we "found religion" or "found Jesus", like you may have been mouthing the words before but when confronted by your own imminent demise decide that maybe you better start getting right with the Lord a bit more seriously. It was in a jesting tone, which I think was a bit surprising from a guy you nearly ran over.

One of her older sisters scolded her on her driving, but her parents then got mad at that sister and continue to coddle the youngest for whatever reason. Mother in law is going to be ok, but is still sore and dinged up.

 

[dudley0]

Sounds like she drives like my sister does... balls to the wall and cram the brakes a yard from where you want to stop.

If the MIL is still ok with how her baby drives than she didn't get dinged up enough.