The Wedding

David, Mama, Moody and his bride, Margo*

We kissed the bride and groom and wished them a hearty, "Alf Mabrook" (A Thousand Congratulations!).  They had managed to plan their special day through uprisings, curfews, unrest and location changes, but now they were married.

Moody became our family friend when we lived in Cairo in 2009.  He was kind, funny, thoughtful and incredibly patient as he would help each of us with our Arabic homework.  He introduced us to his family whom we came to love so much as well.

We have stayed in touch through the years so when he announced his upcoming wedding, we knew we had to do our best to attend.  When we first heard from him he told us the location of the church (He's a Christian…).  As the day approached, the church venue changed because there had been a steady stream of violence in the neighborhood of the first church.

The army instituted Martial Law which included a curfew of 7 pm.  This really affected plans because most Egyptians don't even get started for a party until 9 pm or so.  So now the wedding would be held at 3 pm with no party following to ensure everyone attending would have time to make it home in Cairo traffic (which is insane).

We flew in from our town into Cairo not knowing what to expect since the news continued to issue warnings and reports of continued trouble.  We were met by a taxi driver previously arranged for us by friend who greeted us and took us to the car.  So far so good.

Cairo is a wonderful city.  It boasts anywhere from 18-24 million people and there's simply no place like it.  It is bustling, passionate, crowded, loud and exciting.  We hadn't been back to the city since 2010.  It was like coming home in some ways.  As the taxi whipped from lane to lane (and I use the term "lane" very loosely) it all came back to me…the wild traffic, constant honking and the race to get to all the intended destinations.

He dropped us off at our hotel and we gave Moody's family a call to let us know that we had arrived.  His brother, David, said he and his wife had time to meet us for dinner so we met them at one of our favorite spots, Lucille's.  Lucille's was "all things fabulous" to us when we first lived in Egypt because this restaurant offered hamburgers WITHOUT cinnamon and onion rings WITHOUT olive toppings.  It became our weekly ritual to attend church and then walk to Lucille's to meet with Moody and his friends.

Decorations

We ate our fill of onion rings while we laughed and talked about life. We had been privileged to attend David's engagement party in 2009.  Now he had a wife and two beautiful children.  We visited for a long time and then parted so we could all make it home before curfew.  A few protestors had gathered at a square nearby but it was peaceful and we were able to navigate around it easily.

On Saturday we walked through one of our favorite neighborhoods to see how the revolution had affected it.  To our surprise, there were many people out shopping and carrying on normally.  We even noticed that they had opened an Auntie Anne's!  What?!  We had truly arrived.

We were short on time so we found a nearby Beeza Hut (Pizza Hut) to eat lunch.  They had substituted for a local cheese so the pizza didn't exactly taste like the franchise would probably want, but still good.

We made it back in time to dress in our finery.  To John's chagrin I told him that all the men would be in suit and tie.  He called David to confirm.  Yes, it is true.  I had packed his suit so he was good to go.  We hired a taxi the previous day to take us to the church.  He must have been a Formula One driver in his previous life.  But even his driving style still took us over an hour to get to the location.

The church was a beautiful structure and had suffered no damage during the recent unrest.  We walked up the stairs at around 2:40 pm.  Perfect.  The wedding started at 3 pm.  I poked my head into the sanctuary and saw one guy vacuuming and no one else.  No decorations.  Nothing.  We called David and asked him if we were at the right place.  He assured us we were and encouraged us to go across the street to have some coffee while things were prepared.

We did and enjoyed a piece of cheesecake and air conditioning for the next 30 minutes.  I had noticed that more people had arrived so we walked back over.  The people I had seen were the florists.  Two guys with piles of flowers and Scotch tape were now working their magic all over the church.  I guess this makes the flowers at their peak of freshness by arriving 20 minutes after the wedding was supposed to start.

A few people had already been seated so we found a pew and watched as the two men transformed the inside into a botanical wonderland.  It took everything in me not to "pitch in" and help by fluffing the bows and arranging greenery, but I resisted.

The special music group arrived and were practicing their songs and doing sound checks.  John resisted offering his help as well.

Soon the bride's mother came in and questioned the florists about a completion time.  They talked for a bit and she seemed satisfied.  At around 4:30 pm, Moody arrived looking great in his tux.  He walked to the front of the church and waited.  I thought the other groomsmen would come in, but he looked toward the back of the sanctuary and smiled.  His bride was at the door.  We looked around to see what to do next and everyone stood as she walked in.

The Ring Exchange

The bride was beautiful.  The wedding party had hired a videographer and two photographers who were all moving about the building through the whole ceremony to capture the moments.  The bride and groom were seated on a gold bench while the minister presented a short sermon.  He then asked them to exchange vows and then rings.  When rings were mentioned, a young girl carrying a tray with them on it came down the aisle.

The musical group sang two songs and the bride and groom were pronounced husband and wife.  No kiss though…

They walked out of the building and greeted all those in attendance.  Many, many, many pictures were taken and I was also in the fray.

Following the ceremony, David asked if we would like to join his family for dinner.  We agreed.  He also asked if we wanted to go with them the next day to present a gift to the bride and groom and to see if they were well.  He laughed and said, "It's our culture."  We thanked him but told him that we would leave that for his mother and father.  All I could think of was "AWK-ward!"  David has a great sense of humor and laughed too.

A note to Emileigh and Aria that they are missed!

We spent the evening with David, his family and his mom and dad.  They are beautiful people who love freely and are constant sources of encouragement.  We were able to stay a bit later because the army had changed the curfew to 11 pm Saturday through Thursday.  Fridays were still 7 pm.

We said our goodbyes and made plans to see them again soon.  Our first social event since arriving and it was wonderful but we had one more day of fun.  More on that later...

*Pix used with permission