...I was trying to enjoy my dessert, only to find...

Last night, I celebrated a friend's engagement.  Normally engagement parties are a bit impromptu, celebrated at home or in a restaurant, and not too big.  Last night's party was definitely an exception.  One of my co-workers at gan, the one with whom I get along best, Oshrit, recently got engaged.  Her family threw a wedding-sized party to celebrate in style.  Oshrit's family and her fiance's are Moroccan so the evening was filled with delicious food and several other Moroccan customs.

The Bride-to-Be!
Everyone is all fancy-shmance...

The night started with starters and a salad course in a huge event hall.  Everyone was milling around or eating (or both!).  Then there was dancing; the first bit of dancing was pretty typical Israeli.  All the woman were into it, and I had a blast (while working up a sweat).  Then we took a break for dinner, or what I thought was dinner.  After eating starters, salads, and bread from a wood fire oven, I wasn't even ready to eat more, but eat more, I did.  After this round of food, the dancing really picked up.  There was a bit of shimmying and a bit of traditional Middle Eastern (not Israeli) dancing.  Both the girls' side and the guys' side (for modesty reasons, there wasn't mixed dancing...yet) were rocking!!  After this round of dancing the music quieted only to reveal more platters of food on the tables.  At this point I was stuffed, so I just took a rest to gear up for the next part of the engagement party.  For those who know me well, you know that if I am not eating, it means that the food is either bad (which it wasn't and which doesn't always stop me), or it means that I am really really really full.  The latter was true.  This course was a fast one, and as the tables were being cleared yet again, we geared up for the next part of the party, the henna ceremony.  The traditional ceremony is meant to bring good luck!

Oshrit's father, her fiance, desserts, candles, costumes, and henna!
It was such a crazy dance party!!  And EVERYONE danced!

The henna ceremony was straight out of a movie.  The bride- and groom-to-be as well as their families and friends dressed up in "traditional" costumes, and everyone began dancing with either lit candles, henna (a plant-based dye) or dessert.  This is the one time that there was mixed dancing, and everyone was just jumping around and clapping and making the loud, high-pitched Middle Eastern catcall (like the calls in this clip).  After the dancing, the couple sat together and applied henna.  Guests also partake in the ceremony.

Shlomo & Oshrit waiting for the henna to absorb; my friend and I
about to wash our hands (henna or kaki?!); my post-hennaed hand

Just some of the many smokers.

After the henna ceremony, all the desserts that we danced with were opened up and served.  It was so Israeli when I was about to bite into something yummy (yes, I was still full!) only to be met with a disgusting smell.  It is one with which I am familiar, and this wasn't the first time I smelled it at the wedding.  Throughout the night, near the starter buffet, by the bathrooms, and now, at the tables, guests were smoking.  Somehow, though, it fit right in with my mental picture of a Moroccan celebration, and I just smiled.  

I can only imagine how we will celebrate the actual wedding!