So far I can confidently say it involves:
- Cok (a lot of ) clapping and whooping which I confess I wholeheartedly dedicated myself to. I may even have taken the title of Last-to-Stop although I can't be sure because of observation 2 ( see below). I found the ceremony much less solemn than our Western efforts but this is not to say that they were no less serious or earnest about the commitment. There was just a sort of an exuberance to the whole thing that was very infectious. That said, a Turkish student of mine told me with some relish the other week that she was attending a circumcision and she seemed to be intimating ( by the way she danced in her chair and held a glass to her lips) that this too many involve a lot of clapping and whooping so it may just be a Turkish ceremonial thing. Mind you I am fairly sure the Kücük Prens ( little prince) may be a little light on claps on this particular occasion.
- During the ceremony traditional (and or other ) music must be played at a decibel level so high it might actually reach Mars (or break the odd hymen as one of my fellow attendees duly noted...bad bad bad)
- Verbosity is not to be expected as not an awful lot is said apart from evet ( yes!)
These observations seemed reasonably consistent across the board too as I was able to witness three weddings since my friend's was sandwiched between two others.
After the wedding some of us went out for drinks before joining the couple at a Cuban bar for some cocktails and salsa moves. Suffice to say I was tucked up in my bed by 8pm with a minging headache of my own creation :-)
It was a good afternoon.
