Waking up early again, I tried to practice reading the Israeli newspaper. Rather than news of violent conflict, which usually dominates the international news coverage of Israel, I was surprised to see that the top story was about “cottage cheese wars”. Israel has some of the best dairy products in the world, and apparently the price foreigners pay for imported Israeli cottage cheese is far less than what Israelis have to pay for their own products. This information caused an outrage leading to a nation wide boycott of cottage cheese. The impact was severe enough that the company drastically dropped their prices, making the dairy delight affordable again. Note to self: stock up on cottage cheese ASAP. It’s best served at breakfast on toast with Israeli salad.
At a more reasonable hour of the day, the house began buzzing in preparation for Tali’s bridal party. In Hebrew, the event is called a “Hina”. It sounds like “Tahina”- the sesame seed paste commonly served on falafels, just without the “ta”. The Hina is a Moroccan custom, where the mother of the bride throws an elaborate party for her betrothed daughter. The occasion involves traditional costumes, a smorgasbord of desserts, lots of dancing, and the ceremonial adornment the bride and groom to be with henna paste.
Tami hired a company to help put on this production. They arrived several hours before the party and transformed their backyard into a scene from Casablanca. A tent was erected with a white throne, and there were gold teapots on top of tables with ornate tapestries, cushions on the floor, and candles flickering in every corner. They carted in a massive grill, called a Taboun, where they made fresh pita bread for the guests. A rack of embroidered kaftans, fez hats, and scarves stood by the door for guests to choose a costume from. After the food was served, loud music began blaring from the living room and women began to gather on the dance floor clapping their hands and making loud trill noises I can’t replicate.
Tali and Nir, the bride and groom to be, emerged from a room with lit up sparklers in their hands. Tali was dressed like a belly dancer with a long gold skirt and a bejeweled halter top. She had a headdress on with a gold ornament that hung over her third eye. Nir wore white flowy pants and a white tunic with an embroidered vest, looking very much like Aladdin. After their grand entrance, they made their way to the white throne in the tent. Once seated, they were presented with gifts and well wishes from their parents. The bowl of henna paste was brought to the couple, and they smeared it on each other’s palms. They put dots of henna on the palms of all the guests- a temporary tattoo, and way of proving “I was at that party”. After the paste was left to dry and washed off, it left an orange blob that looked like fake tanner that was left on for too long.
The jubilant crowd danced the night away and barely noticed when the costumes were packed up and the tent was taken down. It was quite a party. I felt bad for Nevo and Joanna, who arrived to the party directly from the twenty-some hour journey from Los Angeles. Bleary eyed, they eventually called it a night, and I followed suit.
No comments:
Post a Comment