Bachelorette Party

            

·      "You’re never too old to be young"

-  Snow White

            One of the receptionists at work is getting married soon, and so another girl I work with threw a party for her. I was invited and boy, was it an experience. I didn’t know how a bachelorette party would be without Dickson Street or alcohol or dirty gifts, but it was a blast.

            The first thing I wondered was what I should wear. I would know how to dress for one in the States, but girls are more conservative here. I was going to pick a fairly conservative dress, until Hussban (the girl throwing the party) basically told me it wasn’t sexy enough. So I went with a shorter dress.

            I was told to arrive at 6 pm because it was a big surprise and the bride was coming at 7 pm. I’m basically a sucker; no one is on time here! So I showed up 5 minutes early, and of course, I was the first one there. I know Hussban’s two sisters, so the four of us hung out until more guests arrive. Hussban was wearing a gold top, a black denim mini skirt, black tights and converse. One of her sisters was wearing a cut off t-shirt, purple shorts, and blue high heels. The other sister was wearing a cocktail dress and heels. I was curious to see everyone else’s attire.

            The party was in the front guest room because obviously Hussban’s dad can’t see any of us dressed like that. Saudi guest rooms are traditionally filled with couches and chairs all along the walls, so there wasn’t a ton of room for dancing for all 15 or 20 of us!

            Other girls started to show up wearing cocktail dresses appropriate for Dickson street, it was shocking for me! We talked and set up for the party. I noticed there were a bunch of non-alcoholic beers for us to drink, but I stuck to the non-alcoholic cocktail drinks.

            The bride showed up at 7:30 pm and that was when the party started. We slapped a veil on her and we all started dancing to American rap music! It was hilarious! The lights went out, the big speakers were blaring, a strobe light was going, and those laser beam lights were flying around. Plus, we each had like 4 glow stick bracelets on our arms. I felt like I was at a night club! AND these girls know how to dance! It was impressive. Once or twice I was thrown in the middle, reason being I was from America (which obviously meant I was a good dancer, in their opinions). They liked my moves!

Next thing I knew, someone had a cardboard box on their head with 2 eyes cut out. The unspoken rule was whoever had it one their head had to dance in the middle of the dance circle. I got it a couple times and didn’t shy away from the challenge.

            I kept taking breaks to eat snacks because they had about 6 different kinds of chips, which I loved. They also had a chocolate fountain, macaroons, popcorn, and trail mix. I love eating.

            After dancing for probably 2 hours, we played a game. They put on the song “Shots” by LMFAO and girls took turns racing to see who could finish a full bottle of non-alcoholic beer in numerous shot glasses. Then we played a game where we divided into two groups and each had a bag of mystery food. The goal was to eat it all as fast as possible. It was funny. I got a giant piece of frozen carrot.

            I was stuffed full of junk food when I realized Hussban had brought out pizza, sliders, and some different Arabic food snacks. So I continued to eat. Dance. Eat. Dance. Eat.

            The next thing that happened was Egyptian dancing. They put on the skirts with tassels and sequins and started shaking it. I put one on at one point and it was really funny.

            Then they brought out the cake, which was very fancy. It had a wedding dress on the top, and the bottom was covered in stripes of white and pink fondant. It even had Yasmine’s name in fondant wrapped around the cake. We didn’t even eat it because everyone was too busy dancing and taking pictures. Hussban ended up bringing it to work. I left at 11 pm and the party was still going.

            Before I left, I asked if I could bring 1 macaroon for Badr. Hussban packed up 2 on a plate and then her mom insisted on me bringing Arabic coffee too. She also offered giving him a plate of the Arabic food and said we should come over sometime. They are such a nice family.