'Mabruk Lrosa'; A Traditional Moroccan Wedding

The cooking starts 2-3 days before, 100 chickens

The tent connects to the house

The setup

Flowers

Prepping Chickens

Me in my jilaba, scarf on my head and coal on my eyes

Offering before the wedding

Start with feet Henna

Then hand Henna

The guests

I love dancing

Bride and Groom

The bride is lifted

Then the groom

More dancing

Children are the last to eat and get the leftovers

Hired help

'Lrosa' or also called 'L3airs', it was a community wedding. I left my house relatively early in order to attend my host sisters wedding. Along the way I was met by a woman and her daughter from the Association, so we walked together. A day wedding is more unusual in Morocco and I was thankful for it. Like all the other weddings I have been to, it was a three day event. Family and friends (some travel from great distances) to visit and stay overnight all together in one or two big rooms for those three days and sometimes longer. I was looking forward to seeing my sister and many other families and friends I know in the village, but not looking forward the loud monotonous live music, long hair bobbing and being whipped around in all directions, excessive food eating, being nudged to dance when I don't feel like it and sitting watching others for hours on end while drinking water out of a cup that gets passed around the room that everyone else has been drinking from. Even with all these uncomfortable things, I have settled on accepting it as part of the culture. As prior days have been cold, this day was sunny but exceptionally cold. I wasn't able to help out with the dishes cause the water was too cold and my hands frozen. Although I wanted to wear a dress or skirt, I was told several times to wear my jilaba as proper etiquette, I didn't mind. I enjoyed myself dancing, talking to others able to understand conversation and hope that the next year in Morocco, I won't have to attend as many weddings, I think attending about 9 traditional weddings is plenty. For this occasion, just in case, I was fully prepared and packed; earplugs, pillow, heavy socks, warm hat, gloves, slippers, toiletry kit, meds, cell phone with flash light, camera battery fully charged, camera charger, mp3 player, backpack, toe warmers and a little money. It's a pain when you aren't sure what the accommodations will be especially when you are expected to participate. Luckily, I was able to make it home before dark to have a relaxing evening and sleep in my very own bed. Amen.