A Wedding in Tunisia

Celebrating in a Far Off Land

 

Bouffaina was mopping the hard, marble floor, Sirine was beating the dust and crumbs from the rug on the roof, whilst Amani was polishing the rich, exquisite displays. The house was seemingly pristine to the average eye but for Mima it would not do. Guests would be coming by the dozens, from Sousse, Monastir, France, Germany, Libya and even a pair from America. It would not be asked of her to accept snide glances from snooty family members, yet the odd couple of bitter old women would make sniping remarks. Mima herself had walking through the dusty, sandy streets to the local butchers and chosen a bull to be slaughtered for the occasion. She herself had stood in the stifling, smothering kitchen and slaved away at the stove. This was all for a good cause however, as Amani was having an engagement party to her new fiance Hamza. Both of their families would be coming together at the girls house. In the country of Tunisia a house and its residents represent the family name and so all the women in the house were working their finger to the bone to ensure that the lobby downstairs sparkled and gleamed. the stairwell you could see your face in, the bathrooms were like glimmering crystal and the living room was alive with bright, beautiful colours with specks of gold. The kitchen, however was the complete opposite, with pans and pots stacked haphazardly, spills of sauce splattered the counters and stove and the windows were opaque with the white steam from cooking. The women of the house had been working hard for forty eight hours and now all of their efforts had come to a semi end. The guests were arriving, filing up the stairs and the task at hand now was to make sure that refreshments and food were continuosly available and that everyone felt warmly welcomed. The guests were finally assembled in the huge living room, with the men sat on one side of the room on the plush, comfy, grande sofas watching sports on the plasma screen TV, laughing and joking. The women on the other hand were crowded on hard back wooden chairs decorated with a gold back drop, blabbering and blubbering about the graceful house and the exuisite looking fiancee. The clothes shop downstairs remained locked but full of the assortment of colourful, rich clothes.