The Story of Sunday Night

I stood at one end of a basketball court and looked towards a group of at least 30 people. All of them were busy conversing with one another, and yet, there was complete silence! It was like watching a group of people through binoculars because I could see each of them moving their arms and communicating with each other, but no words fell upon my ears. It felt as though I was deaf. Ironically, though, I was the only person in this group who had the gift of hearing. I stood there in the middle of the Deaf Unit, which my host family works at, and watched in wonder as this group of deaf people happily socialized for the evening. One of the neatest things about this experience was watching one man, who was deaf, communicate with his deaf and blind wife. He would 'talk' to her by doing sign language into her hands and by touching her face. They seemed so content with each other. So intimate.

These two deaf people accompanied my host parents and I to a Coptic Egyptian wedding (Coptic is the stream of Christianity that is common amongst Egyptians. It is similar to the Eastern Orthodox stream of Christianity). This wedding was like no other wedding I have ever experienced. There was absolutely no love or intimacy in this wedding ceremony. It reminded me more of the environment that surrounds a cattle auction. Actually, I've never been to a cattle auction that I can remember, but this is what I would imagine it being like. The priest(or whatever he was)/auctioneer stood on the platform and quickly spoke Coptic liturgy into the microphone. The microphone was pumped at full volume and he was talking really fast. I actually couldn't see him through the entire ceremony because people crowded the front of the church, just like a group of children trying to see a magic trick. This also meant that I couldn't see the bride or the groom. No worries, though. People came and left the sanctuary (or whatever they call it) as they felt, and they also yelled small talk to each other during the ceremony. It just so happened that the Egyptian man standing beside me was from Tenessee and spoke perfect English. Not only that, but his name was Jack. Go figure. I found this information out during the ceremony as we shouted out small talk to each other. After the ceremony ended, everyone pushed and shoved their way to the back of the sanctuary where the bride and groom eventually emerged from the front crowd. Now, in Coptic weddings, one side of the church is for women, and the other side is for men. That means that when everyone waits for the bride and groom to exit, the men are standing facing the women. This is when the women check out all the suiters and try to catch their eye. Since I am white, I am very attractive to Egyptian women. I don't know if this is because I have the power to get them a Canadian visa, or what, but there were a number of girls who were trying to woo me at this point. It was hilarious! Seemed exactly like a scene from Beauty and the Beast when Gaston was walking around all rough and tough and the ladies were all blushing and batting their eyelashes at him. No word of a lie, that's what these girls were like! Eventually the preistly auctioneer dude exited and shook my hand (and ONLY my hand, might I add). He had a HUGE gray and black beard and a firm handshake. Out in the foyer was the recieving line. By that I mean all the single girls were lined up and waiting for me to exit. heh heh. Just kidding... sort of. There was a bit of a traditional recieving line, though, at least with the bride and groom. I shook their hands and ran for the door before the single girls could pounce on me. Although I had my camera, I didn't take pictures of anything. The church was really ugly and boring. It was covered with tacky marble tiles and really wasn't much to look at. I kind of wanted to take a picture of the bride and groom, but I didn't think of it until I got home. But yeah, that was my experience of a Coptic wedding.

From the church we went over to the deaf people's house (remember? The deaf guy with the blind and deaf wife? Yeah, them). I have only one really humorous thing to say about their house before I bring this blog entry to a close. When we entered their house we heard a chirping sound. It was a constant CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP the whole time we were there. Apparently their doorbell is broken and they've never bothered to fix it cause they can't hear it! Well I found it funny anyways. Oh, and this deaf man knows a couple of Egyptian girls living in Canada that are about my age. He said he has a picture of them and if I can find the house in the picture, I could marry one of them. Simple as that. Ahhhh the Egyptian way of life.