Thoughts on a full stomach

Asifa - sorry!  The internet has been down. 

So, last Thursday I joined my family in driving across the city to the relatives.  After kissing everyone in the family (I have figured it out: one kiss on the left cheek and three or more on the right cheek, in most cases) I was told to sit down at the dining table and I watched as two enormous platters piled high with mansef were brought to the table.  Mansef is a traditional rice and lamb dish sprinkled with toasted almonds and served with leban, a yogurt sauce.  One dish was placed on the dining table, the other on what looked like a round coffee table.  The women sat down at the table with their dishes and utensils, and the men stood around the coffee table (the platter filled up the entire table).  As us ladies served ourselves on plates and ate with forks, the men simply cupped their right hand and scooped up the rice and lamb in front of them, tossing it a little in their hand before eating it. I was grateful for the fork and knife. The men were a mess. There was a lot of laughing as the family took turns explaining this tradition and as the men would turn to look at me and smile with rice all over their hands and face.  The leban was poured over the rice and lamb.   Dina's sister-in-law offered to pour me a glass of leban to drink, but from my reaction, she laughed and didn't pour me any.  This is a very filling (and fatty) meal: lamb, white rice, and yogurt - all in Middle Eastern proportions.  The family told me stories of how relatives have passed out for five hours after eating mansef.

When the dishes were cleared, we gathered in the family room and someone put in the wedding dvd of Dina's brother and sister-in-law, who were married in the spring.  The family laughed and argued about different parts of the footage, and explained all the traditions.  At one point, when the bride and groom crossed arms and drank what looked like champagne, everyone laughed at my confusion and explained that it was non-alcoholic.  Most of the footage was of the guests and wedding party dancing and singing.  They explained that weddings start around 5 in the evening at the bride's home, then progress to the hotel or reception place (there is a procession of cars through the city blaring their horns and shouting out the car windows - I have seen several pass by).  At the reception they dance until two or three in the morning.  The whole thing was dancing (and not aided by any sort of spirits, just sayin')! All in all, the explanations of the wedding further highlighted how central family is to the society.  Even their socializing (evening guests are most often relatives) and their living situations (the house we were at was two houses down from the children and other extended family who lived in an addition above the house - a side addition was being made for a sister). 
I would love to go to a wedding.  My peer tutor is getting married in January and invited me to come. Only problem is we have a hard enough time trying to set up a coffee date.  Insha'allah, I will attend one.