Christmas Plans – North and South – wonder where we will see snow…

So, it snowed in Houston for the second time in about 5 years. Wow! It hadn't really snowed in Connecticut yet this year, until the 15+inches this weekend – We are off to Detroit for Christmas, and then Houston for New Year’s.

Cleopatra & Goliath are doing great – clean bills of health at the vet – and high marks for good behavior. I know some of you may find it hard to believe, but really, truly, Rufus (goliath’s alter ego) only shows up at home in the presence of a cardboard box.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays – hope to talk to you soon, but if we don’t may the spirit of the season bring you joy.

-Elizabeth & Stephen, Cleo & Goliath

Abu Dhabi – JFK – Home – Hooray!

For the flight home there were 5 of us on the flight, and we flanked each other – so no rowdy kids, and an excellent trip home was had by all. On the mono-rail to the Avis Rental counter, Eric Hansen felt the need to put his Turbine on one more time – much to Marci’s dismay (there was just one other couple in the mono-rail car with us – an Indian couple… and Marci and I had henna on our hands… yeah 3 weeks – I think it lasted at least 2.5 – at which point in time I started using my exfoliating face scrub on my hands… =)

And if you read the post from Florida – we arrived back in Connecticut to learn that I had reservations on the direct flight to WPB Monday morning – so into the washing machine my clothes went and off to Florida – back to work!

*sigh* time to prepare for the 20 hour trip home…

After the mosque, Stephen negotiated a ride back to the hotel – it started at 20 rials (50 dollars – are you kidding me) and ended up I think at 13 rials – and NO TIP. We got in our swim suits and took one more dip in the pool, and I took several more trips around the lazy river.

Time to say good bye to Oman: one last trip through the gift shops to finish up our shopping, and then finish packing and check out.

Don’t miss the Grand Mosque in Muscat if you get close.

So on the morning of our departure, we got up early to head over to the Grand Mosque, which is only opened a limited time to non Muslim guests. All women must be completely covered and everyone must be respectful.

There were tarps that we were to stay on, but I wanted to know if the carpet was extra soft or special so I risked loosing a toe to touch the floor in the Woman’s Worship room ( which had flat panel TV’s to show the Imam’s sermon)…ooo( nothing special here, just standard carpet – except for the grid on the floor to identify the prayer lines) Interesting – I thought…

Then we got to the prayer room for the men – It was awe inspiring – no lines for aligning the men – ornate oriental carpets, ceilings that seemed to go on forever, with elaborate mosaics and lumber – and a chandelier the likes of which I have NEVER seen before. Heaven help them, when they need to change one of the thousands of light bulbs.

Grand Mosque - link Wikipedia

Johnny Walker Blech....

Ok... so I have had whiskey - I think that there is some Jack Daniels in the cabinet to mix with coke or maybe add to some daring eggnog, but when Stephen decided to try Johnny Walker Black - neat on the rocks - I couldn't help but capture it for history! =)

To the busses – and more food.

I guess I should have done more research on the traditions and ceremonies – but we went back to the room and changed – and got ready for the wedding reception. Apparently hindu tradition is to mourn the loss of the bride to the grooms family after the wedding, so the hindu guests were far less celebratory than they had been at the Sangeet – but still, there were more activities before it was truly over.

Ben and Ritu arrived at the reception and sat at a thron on stage to receive guests that may have not been able to congratulate them at the wedding ceremony. Then it became the brother-in-law show as Ritu’s older sisters husbands gave the new kid on the block advice. It was touching and funny, and a great conclusion, wrapping up the festivities.

There was a live band – and after the toasts, and advice, most of the Hindu guests left and the Western folks were left to celebrate the new couple.

Oh and the food – this evening I guess I saw the food before it was touched, moreso than previous events, or maybe the food was extra special – check out the Food Art:

Papparatzi - like you wouldn't believe

Everywhere we turned around there was a photographer, videographer - I think there were about a dozen of them. There was one that was in charge - that's him next to Ritu walking down the aisle, but for each event, there was this army of photographers - so I'm sure Ben and Ritu don't need our pictures.

It seemed like everwhere you turned there was a photographer or photographic equipment...

That much fire and weddings don’t usually mix….

The only Christian ceremonies that I have seen with as much fire as in the Hindu ceremony are ones where the bride’s hair or veil are lit off by the candles on the altar…

The Hindu wedding ceremony tradition is based in texts that are written in Sanskrit – and recited in the ancient language – lots of Om … Om… But we were provided with a book with the English translations. There are several traditions – tying of the knot – scarves are tied by the sisters, offerings are made in a sacred fire that is started by the bride and groom’s parents. There were some vows, not quite the standard western promises, but still the general tone was similar – love and cherish forever… And in the end, the bride and groom, all tied with a scarf and the fire in full form, had to walk around the fire 4 times, 3 times with the bride in front once with the groom in front, and after the final lap of the fire they would be man and wife.

The fire was going pretty good, but apparently there was plenty of room in the platform for them to walk around and then it was over.

Suresh (Ritu’s father) announced that even though it was Friday, in honor of the western visitors, there was meat and alcohol to celebrate the wedding while the family had pictures taken… We stood around tables and partook of lunch/dinner before we headed off to the reception.

then in lieu of the horse and cart that carried the groom to the wedding, a Mercedes Convertible was waiting to carry the wedded couple away, however, the engine was not turned on the men of the wedding party (Fathers, Uncles, Brother and Brother’s in law) pushed the car away from the wedding ceremony.

How do you make it through a six hour wedding – hors d'oeuvre of course!

I’ve never been to a six hour wedding. I’ll admit I was a little apprehensive… what I had heard, Ben (the groom) had to ride a horse to the ceremony and we had to dance along some route (didn’t know if it was in front or behind – I was hoping in front and that it wasn’t too long a dance/walk)… we were all in the lobby on time again, and had to wait, this time decoration of the horse was blamed… I’m thinking OMG – he’s really going to have to ride a horse…

Well, to keep the entry from getting out of hand, the walk was not that long – maybe a couple of football fields, and we had a big brass band (drums and horns) to help us feel more festive! There was a cart with a driver for the groom – which was all decorated with the flowers – I hope they were reused from the day before, there couldn’t be that many carnations in the world (shipped over from India I heard).

We got to the wedding and the Hindu minister blessed the groom and his family and then the wedding party and all overseas guests of the groom got rose and lily leis from the brides family and we proceeded to our seats in front of a football sized wedding celebration area! Again, OMG – I’ve never seen such a production for a wedding – and on the beach to boot!

The Christian ceremony was done first – it took about 20 minutes – 1st Corinthians 13 – “Love is patient, Love is kind”, standard verse – vows – rings but not man and wife, we are still several hours from that and there is much to be burned!

During all this, there were servers providing drinks and snacks – WooT!

The many hats of Stephen

So, in homage to the “Samurai Steve” picture, we knew that there was going to be a turbine involved. I think the Samurai Steve still wins, but for those of you waiting for the Sultan Steve – here he is, you vote! =)