The Wedding

I was a little disappointed because all the other American students here went on a trip to the Red Sea. I hear the ocean is gorgeous and it's only an hour away. I was only officially enrolled at the school here the day before everyone else left on the two-day excursion, so sadly my name didn't get on the list. They took off on busses that morning, and I had a fairly decent day on my own, until something made it extraordinary. I was invited to a Bedouin wedding celebration.

Now before I continue, I have to warn everyone that if some kid on the street in Cairo tells you he wants to take you to a wedding celebration in his village, you probably shouldn't go with him. They tell me it's dangerous. Anyway, so there I was hopping in the car of some strange kid, as we drove off to some unknown destination, with no idea how or when I would be back. But hey, I was told to "go outside my comfort zone" while I am here. It was a decent size village called Abu Sir and it was only about half an hour away. We pulled up to this outdoor arena at about eleven at night (not too late here for people who stay up late to avoid the heat). There was an awning set up covered in gaudy blinking lights like a flattened Christmas tree and the music was playing so loud it seemed like the speakers would burst at any moment.

The next point about a Bedouin wedding celebration, they are expensive to attend. The way it works is there is a live band playing on the stage. There are mostly percussion instruments with some accompaniment. The main attraction is the lead singer who is free styling it up on stage on behalf of the groom. He is singing in Arabic with no lines or set lyrics, but with sort of a repetitive, upbeat, sequence. The reason it is expensive is because people from the whole village keep going up to the stage and showering the singer with money. The money is for the soon to be husband and his bride, but the upside of this present is that the singer will sing your name repeatedly in front of everyone else. It's kind of a way to be a big man in the village, everyone sees your generosity, and the more you give the more he praises you. So a good singer is not just a party necessity, he is an investment. I was amazed to see these people with hardly anything giving what is considered huge amounts of money in Egypt, hundreds of Egyptian pounds as presents. Of course the way it works was explained to me later. They give the money now, and someday when they have a wedding they get it all back, and they can think of it more like a loan than anything else. Of course, if you are a tourist, and you will never be expected to collect anything back, they love you.

I went up an gave my ten pounds, and the singer praised me as "hello America" since Kevin actually has sounds not found in Arabic (I always thought my name was rather normal, but now it is mysterious and hard to pronounce). Unfortunately, ten was not enough and with others giving much more and me being what everyone else though of as a "Rich American" I wound up shelling out around 200 Egyptian pounds or the equivalent of $40 dollars. All in all, even at the wedding party the Americans get ripped off, but it was definitely worth the unique experience.

And as for getting back, I didn't and I starved to death in the desert (Or not, but it could have happened).