August 15, 2008
I'm told by PC staff that in my site being invited to weddings means that I'm integrated. I wonder what they'd say to a 16-hour three-wedding marathon...?
My site is huge, which means there are a lot of people to meet. A great way to do this has been going to weddings. In the summer, because there's traditionally not as much work to do after the harvest, there are tons of weddings in Morocco. There were multiple weddings to attend every weekend in August!
On a side note, the Tash words for wedding and harvest are very similar. "Tmgra" is a wedding and "tamgra" is harvest. Usually the weddings in Morocco happen once the harvest season has ended, because then people aren't working all day.
I've had henna done every time someone knows I'm going to a wedding and they see it's faded too much. There are several styles of henna done, and the one most common in my site is the one in the Facebook album. So far, I've seen three techniques of applying henna.
The first involves using a syringe to draw flowery patterns on the palms, the backs of the hands, and, on married women, on the feet. In Ouarzazate and regions further north than here, unmarried girls can get henna on their feet, but in the south it's reserved for married women. Sometimes the girls will get a small design just above the ankle though. Henna on the feet covers the soles and tips of the toes, including toenails. Around this block of henna, a pattern to match the hands is done.
The other kind of henna design involves a form pattern that you can buy in souq. It's a stencil made of tape similar to black electrical tape. You tape the pattern on and cake henna on. When I had this done during homestay, it was just before bed and plastic bags were tied around my hands so it wouldn't rub off in my sleep. I woke up the next morning and washed it off. You have to leave henna on for several hours so that the stain takes hold.
The only kind of henna I've not yet had done is the type that completely covers the palms. You just smear the henna across the palms and leave the backs of the hands uncovered. I'm sure it'll happen in the next two years.
My site is huge, which means there are a lot of people to meet. A great way to do this has been going to weddings. In the summer, because there's traditionally not as much work to do after the harvest, there are tons of weddings in Morocco. There were multiple weddings to attend every weekend in August!
On a side note, the Tash words for wedding and harvest are very similar. "Tmgra" is a wedding and "tamgra" is harvest. Usually the weddings in Morocco happen once the harvest season has ended, because then people aren't working all day.
I've had henna done every time someone knows I'm going to a wedding and they see it's faded too much. There are several styles of henna done, and the one most common in my site is the one in the Facebook album. So far, I've seen three techniques of applying henna.
The first involves using a syringe to draw flowery patterns on the palms, the backs of the hands, and, on married women, on the feet. In Ouarzazate and regions further north than here, unmarried girls can get henna on their feet, but in the south it's reserved for married women. Sometimes the girls will get a small design just above the ankle though. Henna on the feet covers the soles and tips of the toes, including toenails. Around this block of henna, a pattern to match the hands is done.
The other kind of henna design involves a form pattern that you can buy in souq. It's a stencil made of tape similar to black electrical tape. You tape the pattern on and cake henna on. When I had this done during homestay, it was just before bed and plastic bags were tied around my hands so it wouldn't rub off in my sleep. I woke up the next morning and washed it off. You have to leave henna on for several hours so that the stain takes hold.
The only kind of henna I've not yet had done is the type that completely covers the palms. You just smear the henna across the palms and leave the backs of the hands uncovered. I'm sure it'll happen in the next two years.
My goal for the next two years is to always have orange-stained fingernails all the time. When the henna covers your nails it stains them permanently and they have to grow out before it's gone completely. I think my goal is realistic. There are a lot of weddings here! And henna is done before holidays, too.
So... Berber weddings. You've seen my pictures from the fake Oz wedding. Basically here it's the same. Everyone gets all dressed up. I go and sit with the women, and the men sit somewhere else. We chat and eat tagine. Sometimes there's dancing and music. Usually this involves the younger girls playing drums or recorded music and getting in a room together to dance. Dancing here is something that has to be seen; there's a definite style to it that I can't describe. The bride, who enters the room with her face covered, wears several outfits and makes her rounds so everyone can see her.
At really nice weddings, there are men who perform a traditional dance called Ahwash. They have various instruments that they play and there was a wedding I went to that was really fancy because they had a singer and band and dancers! I met the bride from another wedding on the same day who said she was leaving hers to come to this one because it was going to be so ifulki! But apparently in a site with so many weddings this isn't all that uncommon. Also, weddings last several days so leaving for a few hours probably wasn't a big deal.
I'll post more details on weddings later but this, along with the pictures, should give you some idea.
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