And so the day arrives...

So the wedding is tonight. El 3atal's brother is getting married at the same church where, ten years ago, El 3atal and I pledged our commitment to each other. We had the rehearsal there on Wednesday night. It was interesting to see how much was the same and how much was different. Although I've been for Sunday services, it's different seeing it with no one inside. The changes are more obvious, as are the similarities. One big change is that the church now has air conditioning. Ten years ago, air conditioning was barely a dream. And El 3atal, who normally sweats in the winter, was dry and comfortable on our wedding day in July. Truly a wedding-day miracle. In preparation for the wedding, El 3atal's family is coming in from all over.

Last night we spent some time with El 3atal's cousins who live in the UAE. The younger of the two was a groomsman in our wedding. It was nice to see them again and catch up. The groomsman is engaged and plans to get married in December, which is very nice. I'm certain he'll be very happy. It's interesting to see the changes that ten years bring in people. The older brother seems so much more content with life these days. It's very nice to see as I like them both a great deal. El 3atal's other cousin is in town from the States. He's a good guy too, even if he is an engineer :). He works in telecommunications and has all of these patents and other stuff that would impress the normal person. Okay, they impress me too. There, I've admitted it. It's nice, though. I used to work in the industry and actually had a small idea what it was exactly that he did. That was nice. Usually technical people work on things that are so out of the bounds of my experience that I have a hard time gauging if they are even speaking English. So, all in all, the wedding and reception promise to be enjoyable and I'm looking forward to them.

There are only two things dampening on my day at this point. First, ButterBean is becoming hesitant about walking in the wedding, which makes me very sad. Second, Teta H (El 3atal's grandmother) isn't here any longer. She left us 2 years ago, I think, and I feel the loss very keenly on this most happy day. I know she's watching and smiling. Kisses to you Teta H. We miss you!

Peace and love.