The Wedding

We arrived to the fiancés (Abbas) house in the city around five o’clock (well not exactly his house, his neighbors place upstairs, since the other floor was for men and upstairs for women). We waited for Marinas hairdresser to come, but even when she came, nothing really happened for the next two hours. There was a lot of talking, laughing and preparing with all of the girls in the family running around until finally Marina prayed with her religion teacher and the “getting ready”-part could begin. Marinas hair took a while and after getting the hair done it was time for make up. After make up Marina had to put this certain kind of oil around her body, which would give her a nice scent, before she could put on her wedding dress. Also she had to have brand new underwear I guess that she was clean and pure or something for the wedding night. The wedding dress was absolutely beautiful and Marina looked amazing wearing it. For her it was really rough since the dress was so heavy, even mine was and it was a “normal” one. Still we had to sit down and wait. Marina was anxious to get out already and me, well, I was sweating like a pig, but we had to wait since the guys weren’t ready yet and they had to clear the floor. Marina was suppose to be the last one leaving and not risking it so that she wouldnt see her husband before the wedding.

Finally the guys took off. We heard the screams of a goat that was being killed and by that time Abbas’ mother said it’s time to go. We had to make a quick stop downstairs to complete the traditions.  Of course when we stepped inside the house the goat was right there being killed and Marina got pissed, because she said earlier on that she didn’t want to see the goat. It would spoil her evening. Well…. too late. We put on a flower decoration on Marina and then the mother in law gave her milk. She explained that the mother always gives milk to her daughters before sending them off, because when you are a baby, your mother feeds you her milk, so when you get married (move away) she gives you milk again. I think that tradition actually is pretty sweet and makes sense. She even let me taste the milk after her, she was so nice and welcoming.

The bride Marina and her mom Merja

Getting to the mosque wasn’t  a piece of cake. A girl had to hold the Koran  up on Marinas head while she was walking. And  it looked funny and real hard at the same time since Marina is very tall and the girl barely could reach it. But I guess the effort and idea is most important. The mosque was beautiful, but yet again we had to wait and reorganize Marinas dress before going in. There was more the a hundred women sitting there when we walked through all of them on our way to the sofa where Marina was suppose to sit, with her own mother on the other side and the mother in law on the other. There were two other couples getting married as well so it took time.

Me at the mosque

I actually didn’t know until this point that they were going to get married in different rooms. The men had their own room with the groom and suddenly I saw Abbas on a video screen (in mosque, so advanced) and we looked at him getting married on it. I found this very weird. Marinas job was to sit on the sofa reading the Koran and they were blessed in a language I couldn’t understand so I just kept hearing their names and that was it for the most part.

After the ceremony there was lots of kissing and about a hundred people came to kiss the mothers and sisters and the bride and brought gift. Even I was congratulated (probably thought I was Marinas sister or something). And one thing I forgot to mention is that from this point on Marina got a new name, so she is called Aasiya from now on. Aasiya Abbas Murji (former Marina Lischi).

The new couple back at home changing decorations.

Afterwards we went to Abbas’ house to wait for the new couple to walk in and the mother in law blessed them at the door. They changed decorations and rings right there in the living room and there was a lot of picture taking, with different people from the family. We stayed for a meal as well, while leaving the newlyweds  to their own privacy. Marina was told before that she has to spent the first night at a mosque in their house, but the next morning she told it was just a lie. Actually Abbas surprised her by taking her to a suite with candels and roses everywhere so they were well rested when they came home the next day.

I was exhausted after the wedding and since I didn’t hear from Marina I decided to take Otso, their dog for a walk, which ended up being quite a long one, since we spent two hours outside walking around. Otso is a huge dog so many of the locals were scared of him, though the truth is he is the sweetest dog ever and I bet he wouldn’t hurt anyone.

All in all the wedding was very interesting and nice. Abbas’ parents and sisters were very welcoming and warm. I felt right at home there. Everyone was very helpful, polite and sweet. I can just say Marina is very lucky to marry into their family. Now she is part of this beautiful family.

the mosque