Didn't get the picture again- we are at that point where Iftar is right when baby Z is going to sleep... Anyways- we had lentil soup, sambosek, rice with lamb and broad beans and later on atyaif.

So, as you may have seen, Ramadan is a time where the TV and advertising industry goes nuts! As my 'moments of Zen,' I am highlighting a few of these shows and commercials; I hope you are enjoying them so far. Today, I have a clip from this drama (think telenovela, when we talk about Arabic shows) that is allll about marriage in Egypt. Right now it is very hard to get married- in large part because of the economy. People just don't have the money. When you are looking to get married, you need to show up front that you can support your wife-to-be and family-to-be! That means providing a home, furnishings, money, gifts for her during the engagement and of course the wedding- all paid by the groom. Lots of pressure on the groom and his family and certainly very hard to show when the economy is bad...

The result? Many people are getting married MUCH later. So for men, this doesn't seem to be so much of an issue- I mean, they can procreate at pretty much any age, right?- but for women, this is a HUGE issue! And just because the economy is bad, doesn't mean that they are going to lower their standards and marry just anyone! But, there is the issue of marrying before it's 'too late,' plus they are competing with younger women for the same men...

So, this series address that issue- the difficulties that women encounter in the marriage process; especially in this time period. Of course- my summary is not doing it justice- there is a large component about the process too; the idea that you meet the guy with your family in this formal setting to decide (in that time period of about an hour or so) if you want to be engaged!! Now, after the engagement, you have time to date and sometimes break up, but still... it's a big deal!

It's very funny and deals with the main actress talking directly to the audience... I wish I knew Arabic better because I think knowing what she was saying and -I'm sure- the phrases and play on words would make it more enjoyable)

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