Melinda and Sarah Celebrate Eid and a Wedding

Melinda and I are thinking of starting a series of Children's books. (Not seriously) We would call them the The Adventures of Melinda and Sarah. This one would be about parties.

 This past Wednesday was Korbani Eid. This is Muslim holiday during which a cow, or goat if you have limited funds is sacrificed to atone for sins. We were invited to the home a Muslim friend for dinner. After you sacrifice, you have to do something with all that beef. Melinda and I did not attend the actual sacrifice, but we did witness the butchering of many many animals. I think I've now seen every organ and bone in a cow. We had a pretty good time. Our host was a multi-millionaire in dollars, and the family had a 6 story home with hand carved wood for the stair rail and on a wall, and wardrobes. There was a pool in the basement and a park for the daughter, as well as deer, and one cow that survived Eid. Azam, the father, sacrificed 5 cows and some goats. His wife did Mehindi on Melinda and I's hands, and we had a good time talking to her and her daughter. We had lunch and dinner with the family, and we watched as Azam and his house helpers passed out meat to the poor. You're supposed to keep 1/3 of the meat yourself, give 1/3 to family and friends, and give 1/3 to the poor.

The following day, we went to the village of Shavar to spend 5 days with a national family. Shavar is about 30 minutes outside of our city. We stayed with an older couple whose 3 sons have all left home. It was great. When we arrived, we discovered that our 'parents' had been invited to a wedding. Melinda managed to politely invite us as as well. Mr. and Mrs. Baroi were excited we wanted to come, but there was a dilemma. We had not brought any clothes suitable for a wedding. It was decided that we could borrow saris from Mrs. Baroi. The actual sari is just a super long piece of fabric that you wrap around yourself multiple times. It is the very definition of "one size fits all". The shirt that goes with it, however is more fitted. There followed several awkward moments of pinching and poking while Mrs. Baroi determined that there was no way her shirts would ever fit either of us. She is a tiny lady. Finally, she said we could wear chamises that we had brought and just tuck them into our petticoats. (The skirt that goes under the sari, into which the folds of fabric are tucked) On the day of the wedding, we donned our petticoats and shirts and then stood there while we were wrapped into 5 1/2 yards of fabric. (I'm not kidding.) Wearing a sari is terrifying. Nearly all that fabric is held up because it's been tucked into a petticoat that you tie around your waist as tightly as humanly possible. I spent the whole night worrying that it might somehow become untucked and fall to the floor. We were also given jewelry, the red dots women wear on their foreheads, and in my case, nice shoes to wear. Before we could get to the wedding, we had to get to a taxi. Since the house was in the village, we had to take a rickshaw to the main road. Getting into rickshaws in difficult while wearing pants... It was particularly interesting because Melinda wasn't sure if it was appropriate to let her ankles show. Mrs. Baroi solved that problem by hiking up Melinda's skirts (a little) and pushing her into the seat. I climbed in and we were off... slowly riding through town while everyone gaped at us. These people had seen even fewer foreigners then people who live in the city. As I was getting out of the rickshaw on the main road, one of the straps of my shoe broke. (It was not a new shoe) So, we were escorted to the taxi and (once again) shoved inside. Mrs. Baroi took my shoes and set off in search of someone to repair them. She returned 10 minutes (Or was it hours?) later and we were on our way. The wedding started at 4 and by this time it was 4:05. We were still 45 minutes away. Don't worry though, we arrived right before the ceremony started.

Side note: In the course of the evening, Melinda and I successfully used a squatty potty while wearing saris. I'm sure you don't want the details, so I won't provide them, but just imagine, if you can, trying to use the restroom while wearing 16 ft of slippery fabric, which might unravel at any moment. We felt accomplished. STILL feel accomplished.

After the ceremony, we proceeded to the reception. Melinda found a space where we could all sit together and dinner was served. There I was eating chicken and goat in orange sauce, and rice, with my hand, all in someone else's fancy sari. Everything was going well until Melinda asked for more water. Her glass was refilled, she set it on the table, and 2 seconds later it fell over, soaking me. It wasn't Melinda's fault. As it turns out, there a chunk missing from the table, conveniently hidden by table cloth until Melinda put her glass there.

We finished dinner and returned home. Thankfully, the taxi took us almost all the way to our house, so we didn't have to experience a rickshaw in the dark. Immediately upon arriving home, Melinda and I changed into more comfortable clothes and our "mom" enjoyed a good laugh over all of our escapades.