Wedding #3 Preparations

The preparations for the wedding started early.  The groom came to the house to get the bride.  I followed with Kylie and a sister-in-law in my car so we could locate the salon.  

I had previously driven around one day with the Kylie, the bride, her mom, and her sisters looking for the salon, and we were not successful.  The groom, however, must have made the appointment, and he knew where to go.

This picture was taken while the mom was quickly feeding Kylie some lunch, since she knew Kylie would be gone all day.

At the salon, there was a lady who had the job of helping brides get into their dresses.  

Getting into the dress turned out to be quite the affair.

It was a rented gown, which is the most popular thing to do here, so it's not only "one size fits all," it's "if there's something wrong, figure it out on your own," kind of thing.

A piece of silk material was put behind the laces, so that for all the space that wouldn't lace up, her skin wouldn't show through.

A few loops in, one popped.  

There was a lot of pressure being put on these loops. 

I think, all in all, three or four loops popped.

The lady assigned to dress her, took a pair of scissors and poked a hole in the dress directly, and ran the string through the dress.  

I was shocked by the whole thing thinking, "She just ripped that material on a gown that is not hers."

It was a lengthy process, to be sure.

Then, the bride wanted her sleeves sewn tight to her arms, so there wouldn't be a space.

Then came the make-up artistry.

After make-up was done, we moved back to the "hair section."  Kylie and I were not allowed to get close to her in this area, so I zoomed in a bit.

I left Kylie there to continue watching the process while I went to pick up kids from school.

When I returned, I found a princess.

She wanted some hair hanging down on the sides, so she just asked them to "cut some pieces off."

After this, she went with the groom to take photographs.  They take pictures in a studio with different backdrops, and when they come out, a videographer will follow them to the car, and they will go different places to take pictures. 

Our job was to go home, get ready, and follow the "party bus" to the wedding. 

Sounds simple enough...

First Day of Summer

For Father's Day, back in June, we took Doug out for lunch.  We had to wait until 2pm for the restaurant to open, because...Ramazan.

He ordered a Mongolian steak but was given the Mongolian hamburger by mistake.

No mistake here.

That thing was at least 6 inches high between the buns!!!  It had what looked like three chicken-fried steaks stacked up with fried mozzarella cheese between them, and some kind of sauce oozing out the sides.

In case you were wondering, he did NOT pick it up and eat it.

A knife and fork were involved.

I split a Hawaiian burger with Kylie, and it was just the right thing to lead into a nap.

I hardly ever take naps, but on this day, it was glorious!

At 5pm, my friend and I took our maxi material to a tailor to have her alter the bought ones and make the un-made ones, but she told us we needed to soak our material first.

So, I went back home, and we had a mini-TV marathon.  We were all exhausted and hot.  We didn't want to move too much.  Again, I understand why the locals are sleeping during the day.

The next day was officially the "First Day of Summer."

Although, I feel like we've been experiencing "summer" for a while now.


When the sun was high in the sky, and the temperature was 104 degrees, Doug, the girls and I walked to Stationary Street.  I've mentioned this place before.

Again, it was quiet, and the streets were empty.  I guess the reason the office supply stores remain open during the day is because offices still have to work and need supplies during this crazy time.

And again, I was so excited about being in my favorite kind of store that I forgot to take pictures!!  I did however, buy three new journals for different language uses (lesson plans, language practice, and new language journal).

And I did take one picture on the way there.

This pitiful looking wedding dress just sits outside of its shop 24 hours a day, covered in dust, as an advertisement to come inside and shop.

Does this dirty gown beckon you at all?


Things you don't think about unless you're here, but all the notebooks open from the back (remember, they read back to front, right to left).

I really do need a notebook to practice language.

I sent a text the other day that took me 30 minutes to write.  I wanted to show you a picture of it, but just in case some people could read it, I would be very embarrassed.  I couldn't find the "sh" key, so I just used "s" (my friend showed me later that if I hit the shift key, I get a whole new group of letters), and I'm sure I spelled all the words wrong.


But here's an example of my yahoo page that pulls up on my computer.

And here's our six names that I wrote in my language notebook.

Betcha can't tell which letter makes the "K" sound...

(remember to read right to left)