First day of the wedding: Henna

Salima is getting married. The henna party is like a bachelorette party, only women allowed. But the bride must sit perfectly still in her throne for the entire thing. Henna is applied to both hands and feet. The emotions going through her face during the 5 hours we stayed there were amazing. I concluded, this ceremony is to test and teach patience "tsbar" that will be sorely needed once you are married. She did a pretty good job of keeping a straight face. But forgot to smile for pictures. Her friends sing a song and dance for her. There is a chant everyone repeats, and the chant ends with an undulating screen controlled by sticking your tongue out of your mouth and flapping it back and forth wildly. Henna is supposed to bring happiness, ward off the evil eye, and smells like fertile ground, so I bet that's part of it.