Warning: Gruesome Topic-Read At Your Own Risk

Well one of the main things that have happened since my last post was that my former roommate and fellow teacher Eriny got married in her village in Upper Egypt, so I went to the wedding and what an experience it was! The night before the wedding there was a big party at both the bride and the groom's houses, which is the custom in Upper Egypt. Loud Arabic music was playing well into the night and tons of people were gathered in the small dirt roads to celebrate with the families of the wedding couple. The most significant part of the night for me occurred when they killed a cow in the street right outside of Eriny's home. This is what happens at weddings in Upper Egypt and it was quite horrifying for me to witness the murder of a cow. Everyone there is so used to it and meat is such a vital part of their diet that they aren't even phased by the tortuous death that the animal goes through...they're just watching eagerly, ready to eat the meat that the cow will eventually provide them with. They tied the cow's hooves together and laid it on its side the ground, and the proceeded to slit its throat. The cow just laid there as its blood filled the street. Some people got blood on their shirts from when the cow moved around trying to get loose. The whole process was so agonizingly long too. The poor cow was suffering for so long while everyone just swarmed around it to watch. The men who were carrying out the cruel task then started hacking away at its throat and cutting through its mouth and tongue and everything so that its head would be cut off completely, but it took quite a long time so they kept stopping for breaks along the way, while the cow just kept suffering through it. Sometimes they stuffed their hands in the cow along with the knife, to help rip the head off faster and more effectively. After what seemed like forever and ever the head was finally off and the cow was out of its misery. I think it was pretty much alive until the head was right off, cuz it moved sometimes throughout almost the whole process. Anyways then they stripped its skin off and hung it from these poles in the middle of the street and proceeded to hack off pieces of meat well into the night. Oh and I also saw all the stomachs of the cow after they were placed into a bucket. Then they took them away to sell. Anyways that's the story of probably the worst thing I've ever seen happen.

So the next day was the wedding. Manal and I went to this beauty salon to get our hair done, and they started doing this fancy thing in my hair and then topped everything off by putting all this makeup on my face. I asked them to keep it simple and natural but when I opened my eyes it was definitely not natural. But it was ok for one evening, and I really liked my hair even though it seemed too fancy for someone who wasn't in the wedding party. So the wedding was scheduled to start at 7:30 on Monday night which I thought was an odd time for a wedding. Anyways we finished at the beauty salon and headed to the church, arriving at 7:15. I was supposed to play my violin while the wedding party walked to the front. But when we went inside the church we discovered that the wedding was already in progress! I was expecting it to start pretty late cuz Egyptians usually start everything like 1 or 2 hours late, but we found out that they started the wedding at 6:30! I was so shocked that they had started an hour early, and not even waited for Eriny's own sister to get there before they started. I guess they played some random music for the part where they walked to the front, but I felt so strange cuz I had my violin and I didn't even use it, and I was all dressed up for nothing, cuz the wedding was almost finished. Manal and I went up to the front of the church in this side hallway thing and when they saw we were there they told me they still wanted me to play my violin. So I quickly got it out and played Ashokan Farewell, the piece I had prepared to play at the beginning of the wedding. But this time it was more like a special music. After I finished they said the closing prayer and the wedding was over. I felt sooo weird for being all dolled up and then only being there for a few minutes before it ended. Anyways I went back with the group that came from NUA and I met the SM's that had just arrived in Egypt the week before that. We finally got back at about midnight or something. And that's the story of the wedding that I attended in Upper Egypt!