A celebration with a difference

A celebration with a difference

Relay for life,

by Romane CAZEAU

It was in 2014, my family and I decided to go to a fund raising event. The event was called "Relay For Life". It was taking place in Belgium at St. John's school every year. St. John's is a really big American school that has a really big yard and huge green spaces. When I arrived my friends and I went to my school stand (every participating school holds a stand) to get our "Relay for life" t-shirts. I met with other persons and we went running. Relay for life is a unique event; it consists in running during 24 hours against cancer. The 24 hours is the symbol that illness never stops, and that we can do other things during 24 hours, like fight cancer. (Of course, you don't have to run non stop). Survivors to this illness wear a "survivors" t-shirt and those who are ill wear a "Fighter" t-shirt. That was really great, prove encouraging sick people and, thanks to Survivors, prove to them they can be cured. And of course they were game stands, food stands and all the money raised was sent for research to find a solution against cancer. I've ran two hours with two breaks, even if I didn't run ten hours, I'm happy because I've done a thing that matters to me. I have contributed to a important thing that can hit everyone. I'm happy, not sad because, this event was not sad and dark. It was colorful and happy. Even if people are sick, they have to be confident and fight for their lives. If you are interested, "Relay for life " have a web site.

Karelle Honein

I once attended a wedding in Fiji, the 15th of august 2014. My cousin and his girlfriend were getting married, though in the most peculiar way: the wedding was taking place underwater, in the depths of the ocean. Of course, not everyone would go scuba-diving. Only the bride, the groom, the reverend and the witnesses would go underwater. The rest of the guests would keep up with the wedding with the help of special cameras that cameramen who are underwater use to film the scene which was directly projected to a huge TV placed in a room in a hotel nearby the beach. Everything went well; the seafood served for dinner was excellent, the entertainment (which consisted of traditional Indian dancers) was very nice to watch and the decoration was magnificent. The most amusing part of that day was when the bride had to go underwater with her equipment but her heavy dress got stuck between two planks on the boat and when she jumped in the water, her dress wouldn’t detach itself from in between the planks so she hanged upside-down, her body on the side of the boat for almost half an hour. Anyhow, the experience was very interesting and I certainly had a lot of fun.

REMINDER: This is a fictional story. None of what was said actually happened to the writer.

Karim Ayoub

Being apart of the younger generation between my cousins and I, its only expected for the older ones to get married before us, two of them already have.

The last wedding i was at i was about 13 years old my cousin was the groom, he was marrying a Brazilian women and in their culture things tend to be different.

The wedding took place in Brazil and the only thing i could think about is how in the world am i gonna get thru a 17 hour flight.

After the worst 19 hours of my life we arrived to the hotel at last, it wasn’t as easy as u think, after we landed it took us about 20 minutes to figure that no one there spoke any english, so it took about 2 hours to get to the hotel.

So i being my very lazy self decided to stay in the hotel room, when the rest of my family was out enjoying the carnivals, the beaches, the restaurants, and the famous landmarks of there beautiful Rio de Janeiro, at least my family said it was beautiful,

and it looked like it from the room window.

Then night of the wedding has finally come and to our surprise something went terribly wrong the groom forgot the ring back in Bahrain so that was horrible.

How everyone (including myself) actually forgot about how so many things went wrong that night and just had fun is what i love most about my family

Looking back at it now, 2 years later, i don’t remember how my cousin forgot the ring, i remember how picked up some tape and created one out of leaves, i don’t remember how it started to rain in the end, i remember how we all danced under the rain.

Overall i would say, it was a different, yet very interesting experience

Rania

So it was the big day the day I was finally going to attend a traditional Indian wedding I've always wanted to attend a Indian wedding because I have heard so many different things about it and it was very different indeed : the clothing the jewellery the decorations it was all so beautiful yet different . The bride didn't wear A white gown she wore traditional Indian clothing with lots of gold jewellery that complimented her attire the groom was a lot simpler and wore traditional Indian clothing as well . The wedding lasted 3 days, which were full days of celebration for the new couple , everyday had a purpose such as different ceremonies and things to celebrate. The bride entered on an elephant and her bride mades were surrounding her as well as the elephant and the groom was being carried by his best men . The women would dance during the whole night and the men as well the music was very loud and was very festive . Over all the wedding was a beautiful celebration that lasted quite long and it was different from anything I have ever attended.

Zein ayoub

Zaynab Khattabi

A wedding is a celebration to celebrate love,friendship,trust and commitment.

My family and I were once invited to an unforgettable wedding,it was those kind of wedding where you go without knowing what to expect.You ask yourself if it's going to be normal or are we going to discover something new?

We were in Germany when a family friend invited us to their son's wedding.It was our first time there and we didn't know anything about the traditions or culture.We got ready and went to the wedding at 11pm.

Everything was normal until a member of the bride's family announced that it was time for Polterabend.Of course,my family and I were confused because we had never heard that word before.We didn't ask anyone about what was going to happen but waited till we saw ourselves.Polterabend is a German wedding custom in which the guests break porcelain to bring luck to the couple's marriage.Pots were clashed,cookeries were broken and even whips were also smashed.The belief in the effectiveness of this custom is expressed by the old adage: "Shards bring luck"

I was shocked when everyone started breaking the gifts they got.I didn't know what to do or think.

This experience was amazing, I was astonished by this tradition.I really had fun and I would have never knew that there was such a strange custom in the world.I'm really grateful that I had the chance to discover a new tradition.

Elena Shokry

Asturias's day

Like every year, me and my family travel to Spain, and we visit everyone we know there. So this year my parents decided to travel to the coldest place in spain where it snows in summer. So we took a 6 hour car ride from Madrid to Asturias and we were very excited to see new things and learn their culture. So the first day we arrived we were informed that we will be attending a great festival and that we would have to be wearing a traditional dress so we agreed and couldn't wait. Three days later the festival was taking place so everyone was stressed and running around screaming and shouting it was a real pain in the head, after a while I felt people pulling all over the place and getting me undressed and painting my face with pounders and pencils I couldn't breath it was too much pressure but I couldn't do anything so I just went with it we stayed like that for a while me my mom and my sister it was very rushed after all the dresses and the makeup we stepped down stairs and everyone was singing and dancing and pushing each other it was very nerve raking but we all went with it We later were called to another aria to carry this very beautifully dressed girl and put her on a really high chair and same for another really well dressed man and so a big floats with names on them passed by and played really loud music but just when that started to happen I couldn't take it anymore I had to leave

Mashael Nasir

“A Celebration With a Difference”

It was the Easter vacation; I was getting ready miserably to go to my aunt’s bridal shower. I was not very fond of celebrations like these as they were always boring, but nevertheless I was forced to go. It was supposed to be a surprise and my aunt was informed that there would be a “dinner”.

A few hours into preparation, and I got a sudden phone call, it was my aunt. She asked me directions to the destination, which was a gazebo that we rented. She said she would be there in five minutes, therefore we had to stop what we were doing and switch off the lights and just wait …

A few moments later we heard footsteps it was surely my Aunt as when she walks there is a particular sound of her bone clicking. She arrived and it was my responsibility to open the lights but the lights were not opening. My cousin next to me tried as well but they weren’t opening. Suddenly my phone started ringing and my Aunt called my name aloud and with a hesitant voice I replied “SURPRISE”.

A few seconds later my mom came in and opened the lights. Turns out I was pressing the wrong button. My mom yelled at me for a few minutes but the rest of the family were crying their eyes out with laughter. In the end it all turned out well because I was banned from attending any other party or celebration.

Fadi El Tanamly

There were not a lot of celebrations with a difference that I attended in my life, but the one I will always remember is the wedding of one of my uncles.

My family and I had just arrived from Bahrein when we heard that my uncle was getting married. My mother of course was very happy, but honestly, it made no difference to me whether he was married or a bachelor.

As the wedding day got closer, the overall atmosphere was getting pretty tense. Everybody was running around changing this, fixing that, just the basic proceedings before a wedding. I felt like the only one actually having fun as I watched them make the stupidest mistakes. For example: the table arrangements were wrong, there were about 15 people with no chairs and tables, or the fact that the catering was horrible because we hired them at the last minute and they had to prepare everything quickly, and of course the bride, who came very late to the wedding because she was stuck in traffic (the poor thing had her hair standing on end because of the stressful day she was having).

And of course the babies were a catastrophic mess they wouldn’t stop crying no matter how hard we tried to calm them down. But at the end I thought of it as a fun experience and ironically, by the end of the celebration, everyone who attended (except me) rued the day my uncle decided to get married.

laalee almahmood

Two years ago , I was invited to an Egyptian wedding . At first I didn't want to go because I thought that it is going to be like normal weddings . The wedding starts at 8pm till 2am . We all go before the groom and bride and wait for them . It starts with a car parade where u hear honking and really loud music and when the reach there destination the zaffa starts . The zaffa is when they enter evreyone is surrounding them , belly dancers and musicians . After the zaffa that takes an hour the groom and bride are seated in the Kosha . As soon as they sit a rose sherbet drink is passed to the guests and all drink to their health . Then comes the first dance and then we all join in . Before the food a cake show is hold and they exchange rings . And after that you have a famous singer that sings . In the wedding that I went to there was a dance show and fire and it was really cool . Afterwards i was so happy that I changed my mind and went

Elise Travers

We were in France, celebrating my cousin's marriage. It was a 'two day' wedding, I was really excited and helped my family for all the preparations. The day came and we were waiting for the bride in front of the mayor's office. She arrived in a beautiful car decorated with white and red flowers and as she was getting out of the car, you could hear my auntie saying: "bring your tissues!" with everybody wiping away their tears of joy. We were all talking about how beautiful she was in such a nice dress. After the ceremony in the mayor's office, we went to the church. Eleven of the bride’s friends played the religious songs with different instruments which were magnified by the church architecture, the sound was just fantastic. We all, family and friends in the celebration left the church at it’s entrance to receive the couple while throwing colorful pompoms which my aunt and grandmother prepared for this wonderful occasion. The next day, we were welcome in a huge garden where a jazz band was playing with provided. Wonderful pictures were taken and everybody was dancing and singing together before dinner. After the amazing dinner, we watched enthusiastically all the videos the family and friends prepared for the couple: their life, silly events, etc.…We were all laughing and crying again with tears of joy. Then came the games, it was really fun watching the bridesmaids running after the couple for a selfie (which were the game's rules). Before going back home, we all, by turns, wrote our wishes and greetings to this new couple in a huge book as a 'souvenir' of this wonderful event. To be honest, this has been the best marriage I’ve ever assisted.

Valentine Lucas

celebration with a difference

last February my mother and I went to a wedding , an Arabic one . I was quite excited, as I have never been to a wedding and especially an Arabic one ! I knew it was going to be a big nice fancy wedding ! My mother and I were already late by an hour because we couldn’t find the reception. When we finally found the place there were two ceremonies taking place. We entered and we felt like black sheep because people were staring at us. Then we noticed that we forgot the gift in the car! We went back out to get the gift and we came back in feeling confident that no one would be staring at us. We were wrong. Everyone started staring at us and we noticed that we were in the wrong ceremony room and that another wedding was taking place… We felt so embarrassed , we felt a lot better when we entered in the right room this time . The wedding was really fun. There was loud music and people were really friendly. I went to dance on stage with ladies I didn’t even know. It was a wonderful experience .I was really tired after the party since it finished at 2 in the morning and I had school the next day.

Mariam

My first wedding was when I was about 8 years old. When my mom and dad told me I had to go since it was my aunt's wedding, I had no idea what to expect. Apparently it was a henna night, which according to my mother, is the event every bride has before the actual wedding. Henna has been a symbol of good luck, health and love in the Arab world.

I didn't really want to go. As a kid, I never really liked late night weddings with loud music, crowds and dancing. Fortunately, my mother took care of my dress so I wouldn't have to go choose it myself. I had to admit, it was a short white dress and very simple but I found it beautiful.

The day of the henna party came. It was apparently being organised in my grandmother's house and only female family members and close friends are invited. When we arrived, I was impressed at how well my grandmother and my aunts organised the place. There was a huge buffet with all kinds of traditional Bahraini food and sweets. The outdoor lights looked wonderful. My aunt was wearing a beautiful traditional baby blue dress. Everyone had already arrived.

A lady was in the process of decorating the bride's hands and feet with beautiful henna designs. It's quite long and the bride has to wait for several hours for the henna to dry properly.

I was extremely tired by the end of the wedding because of the loud music. I found it to be an interesting experience since it's the first time I attend a wedding and it was fun seeing my cousins and taking pictures with the bride

Georges haddad

A wedding that will never be forgotten

Last month my friend invited me to his wedding , his name is Fady and he was really exited for the event .

At first I didn't want to go because usually I get bored in those occasion and because there is always a lot of drama . But I thought this time will be better and nice and both ways I couldn't not going since it's my best friend's wedding .

Before the event my friend and I went to all his favorite places to visit and and have fun , we ate a lot and so much had fun because getting married is a big step and perhaps he wouldn't be able to do all of those stuff later on , he will have lots of responsibilities . Then the next day we got dressed and went to the church where the bride was waiting .

There was a lot of people and excitement , and finally the two of them got married and kissed . I was about to leave but Fady called me to inform me that the party isn't done yet , they had a reservation for a nice restaurant . After a few minutes we where on the way their , and we finally arrived there was a big room prepared to celebrate and lots of food it was really great with all that music and dancing even the cake was awesome and tasty . I enjoyed the party very much and I am really glad I went to it .

Nabil Mouawad

About a week or so ago, Sarah had her Sweet Sixteen surprise birthday party. I honestly don’t have interest in parties like that, I really did not want to go. Unfortunately, everyone practically begged me to come.

Getting a gift was the hardest part. What was I supposed to get for a girl like her? A few days before, my friends and I all went to the nearest mall to get her the best present she could wish for. Easier said than done. We spent around two and a half hours in the mall trying to decide between getting her a new dress or a new pair of heels. In the end, we bought both. On the day of the celebration, we were asked to come in early to try and surprise her. I got there late, due to my dad’s car breaking down in the middle of the road (just my luck). Fortunately I was there just in time for the surprise, and I wish I could have captured her face on camera. She was so happy, and the party was not the way I expected it to be. It was actually fun. The music was amazing, the food was extraordinary, and we were just enjoying our time. There also was a band, and apparently, they were hired by her parents.

Do I regret going to the party? Probably not, it was a lot more enjoyable than I thought, had an amazing time.

salma abdelaziz

Today was my best friend's wedding; Ruby, We have been friend's for ages .

She was originally Indian but lived and raised in California, today she decided to bring back her Indian origins and celebrate it as Indians do .

I imagined it would be boring like any other wedding , where the couple walks down the aisle, the bride wearing white and the futur husband wearing black. In fact , it turned out to be "a celebration with a difference ".

Once I arrived , I was shocked by the beauty of the room. It was colorful and grand , and all the decorations hanging down from the ceiling were so catchy that I kept my eyes on them for a while.The music was loud , the food odor appetizing , the different dresses worn by the ladies were very attractive.Everything was perfect.

Her wedding was almost like a festival , the celebrations all around created such a joyful and happy environment.

I looked for Ruby in the huge crowd but couldn't find her because everyone was wearing fancy so I couldn't figure out which on was the bride , so I decided to eat and wait until she appears . Eventually she was then brought forward , surrounded by her friends and family , the music suddenly changed then Ruby and her husband sat on a raised platform that looked royal. Minutes later a fire was made , the couple started turning around it approximately 7 times each chanting what the priest chanted. I was told that this was the religious ceremony, which I actually enjoyed.

Four hours later , when people started leaving I finally got to hang out with Ruby for a while and girl talk with her about how happy we both were. Before leaving I handed her a gift I got for both her and her husband , said my wishes ,hugged her and left .

At the end of the day it wasn't as boring as I thought it would be , in fact this was the best wedding I have ever been to although I didn't fit in well with the crowd mainly because I wasn't dressed alike . After all I look forward to go to more traditional weddings.

Aurore Mariot

It was the day of my cousins wedding Sophie and her groom Jeremy. At first I did not want to go, because three days before, I got into a fight with the bride to be, I did not really like the groom. So I expressed my self directly to her she didn’t take it so well. She explained me that even if I didn’t like him I should actually learn to know him and that I shouldn’t judge without even knowing .

I went to church before everyone else to speak with her, we spoke about everything and we got even closer then before.

The ceremony started, my uncle took my cousin down the isle, her dress was absolutely beautiful all white , it was like a fairytale.

It was time for them to share there vows, it was really touching. The pope said “is anyone opposed to this union”, no one answered even if I wanted to say something but I didn’t feel like ruining the best day of their life . They proceeded and finally said yes.

We all left the church to go to the reception , which took place at the grand palace. They cut the cake as tow young married person and it was really sweet, for me it was to stereotypical. I had to do something special I took the brides face and I shoved it into the cake it was really funny. I really enjoyed this wedding

In my opinion this wedding was fabulous, full of love and it showed me what thru love was . Its not a bunch of lies it really exists. It was the best experience in my life.

Prince Karim Wafa

I once went out for dinner with my family to a Lebanese restaurant but this wasn't like any other dinner because of the restaurant was inviting the famous Palestinian singer "Mohammad Assaf" that had just won Arab idol, a few months before. I was really excited about this event because for the first time, a person from my country "Palestine" which is torn between an ongoing genocide, has been finally recognised. When my family and I reached to the restaurant, we heard that the singers arrival was cancelled. We were all a bit down but we didn't let that get in the way of our night. We still decided to stay at the restaurant and have a normal family dinner, when out of nowhere music started playing and a whole crowd of people showed up dancing .It was a wedding celebration. It turns out that the couple getting married were actually some friends of my parents. We congratulated them, ate and then suddenly bodyguards showed up and then the whole room was covered in flashes of cameras or phones of people taking pictures. There also was shouting so I knew that there was something. Then from the crowd of bodyguards and people I see the person that we were waiting for all along, yes you got it right, "Mohammad Assaf".

He was entering the room when there already was a huge crowd of fans waiting for him. There were so many people that you could think that the King had arrived. At least I got a few pictures with him as a memory, who knows maybe someday he could be the popstar of the Middle East.

Music started playing, people started dancing and don't forget "eating". We enjoyed our night. Afterwards I feel that it was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Narjes Dhaif

A celebration with a difference

My mother , sister and I were invited to a family wedding , I was so excited to go because I love wedding and the whole process of getting ready , picking up a dress , doing my hair and makeup , I just love this celebration

We received the invitations a week before the wedding . We had no clue of the theme other then , a hint on the card , a picture of a group of ladies wearing traditional clothing , so we guessed it would be a traditional Bahrain wedding , Arabic music , the bride will be wearing a white dress and everybody would be wearing fancy traditional outfits , the usual , nothing special . So the process of getting ready was easy , we wore traditional jalabiyas and headed to the wedding .

When we arrived , we were in shock , we didn’t expect this at all , by traditional we though something modern with a glimpse of tradition , but it was the opposite , the venue was transformed , like the old days , my mum was standing in shock , saying that it is exactly like the weddings she used to go to when she was a child . Everything was amazingly shocking , its was like another century , woman’s dressed traditionally on the floor cooking traditional food , there also was a traditional band singing , traditional flowers and perfumes everyone was dresses like old time , and the most shocking part was the bride dress , its wasn’t white , its was PINK on her wedding day !

The whole experience was so much fun , it was like a museum or traveling through time , something unexpected and different .

Mathilde Abraham

A celebration with a difference

I am going to talk about the wedding of the cousin of my mother.

I was 5 or 6 and was very excited about the event. I was asking myself a lot of questions, although my parents told me what would happen… A few days before the wedding, my parents, my brother and I went to buy costumes and nice clothes. We spent a lot of time in the shops, and finally found clothes for everyone. I had a beautiful white dress with pink flowers on it.

On the day of the wedding, I was even more excited. There were many people at the wedding; all the family and friends of the bride and groom were there. I met children’s my age and we played a lot of games together, when suddenly, I tripped, fell on a chair and opened my forehead (the chair had nothing, only my forehead was damaged). We immediately went to the emergencies where I got stitched. My dress was covered of blood, so we went back home to change, before returning to the wedding. I quickly forgot what had happened and restarted playing and dancing. We returned home very late in the night and were exhausted, but really happy. Some of the blood on my dress did not leave, which turned it unusable for parties, but I still have good memories of this wedding.

ingrid van biesen

A celebration with a difference:

I chose to talk about my cousin’s baptism,

It was a sunny day, the whole family was invited, we all went to a beautiful church on a mountain. To get to the church we had to climb a lot of stairs and it was really tiring and the worst is that my aunt was pregnant and while climbing she almost fainted so it took us a while before arriving to the church. I was really excited to go at first because I never saw an actual baptism but when I found out how many stairs we had to climb and when I arrived to the church and saw that there was no chairs and it was like a cave so we had to sit on rocks I was really close to go back home, but sadly I couldn’t.

On the other hand, the mountain was really stunning and it was a really good experience to sit on rocks in a cave and listen to the priest…

Other than the fact that I had to help my aunt get to the church and stand for an hour ( only the children were sitting ) and that I sat on rocks to wait hearing my baby cousin crying it was good.

No really, it was special and I would say that I enjoyed helping my aunt and rocks are not that uncomfortable after all.