the engagement party

Our downstairs neighbour had an engagement party for one of his brothers. He invited us to come. As Peter is still in Canada, I decided to give his wife a box of chocolates and to watch from our balcony.  I had no idea what to expect. Here is what happened.

When I arrived home from work they were busy setting up the sound system, lights, and chairs on the tiled area between the two rows of apartments. Maximum cell phone activity!

As at any party, there are always those who energize the whole affair. Watch what happens when one of the friends (and key party organizers it turns out) joins into the pre-party warm-up dancing.

People (only males, except for the nieces and other young girls) began to arrive. Each person was greeted by the brother hosting the party and seated. The videographer arrived. Then the new fiancée arrived in style. The first dance was with the three brothers. Our neighbour, who is hosting the party, is dressed more formally. Take a look!

The evening was magical to watch. There were many traditional dances. Everyone knew just what to do as soon as a song started. Here are two of my favourites - the stomp dance and a dance using scarves.

After a while the party was in full swing and everyone was relaxed and in the celebratory mood. Even the little nieces were dancing.

Near the end of the evening, a few more traditional rites of passage needed to happen. The new fiancée was tossed up into the air, then sat down in a chair in the middle of the circle while friends and family did a call and response style chant.

During all of this, the host family provided the dancers and guests with cans of pop, slices of cake, and cups of coffee. After the dancing part had finished, the party moved inside the apartment for more food and to join the women.

My neighbour beaconed to me from his balcony to join them, but as my Arabic is still pretty lame, I didn't go. I was just thrilled to have watched this big event. During the dancing, Peter and I visited on Skype and so I was able to show him some of the live action.  Too bad  that he missed this, but maybe he will be able to watch the finished video with our neighbours!