I had the fortunate experience of having my sister Sonja (from Holland) visit me at Hope School. She stayed for 10 days and we travelled up north one week end and south the other to visit the Dead Sea. Both experiences were interesting and totally different. The north is green and mountainous, wheras the area around the Dead Sea is desert like but also with many mountains. The second Friday she was here I drove her to a small Moslem village close by the school and just by chance we were stopped in the village by a teacher from Hope School and were invited to come to a wedding which had just started. Of course we were not dressed for the occasion but were convinced by Ahmed that it did not matter. We expereinced an amazing celebration and were the only western women . All the women wore scarves and the younger ones are just beautiful. We were warmly welcomed by the parents of the bride and fed the traditional food of boiled meat served with rice and a sauce, which was accompanied by a can of Fanta. The women were at one place and the men at another, and only did the groom and bride dance together for a short while at the gathering place of the women. We never got to see the men except when everyone was walking on the road accompanying the bridal pair; she in the car (with a "just married" sign on the back), following the groom who was being carried on the shoulders of his friends. Swords were waved in the air and there was a constant siniging by men as well as women. The women made the trilling sound with their tongues, and the older women wore the beautifully embroidered traditional long dresses. The bride was really made up and dolled out in an incredible wedding gown, lots of make up!,and the groom wore a silver-like suit. He was a handsome young man and I was glad to see they were the same age. It happens a lot in the Middle East that older men marry very young women. Women danced for some time with the bridal pair and then the wedding sort of came to an end. Sonja and I could not believe our luck of being a part of this celebration and the recipients of such warm hospitality from our hosts. It was just one of those incredibly wonderful experiences one has while travelling. And since this was a Moslem occasion I will end by saying Salam to all of you. Inshalla! May God be with you. Yvonne