Let me entertain you

The day after

The last two weeks have been a crash course to regain my saudi life. The sheer number of social obligations (visits, engagements, weddings and various other events) is mind-numbing :S

I don't mind the dressing-up in designer, the jewellery and the make-up. I don't mind the loud LOUD music and the yummy gourmet food. I don't mind seeing the same 300 or so people yet again. Hell, I don't even mind the terrible gossip, back-biting and in-your-face obnoxiousness. I really got used to it..
BUT what I do mind is the hours!

God-daaaaamn. Even if I lived in Ibiza I wouldn't be partying so late :S. Ya Allah... why? why do all-women parties here start sooooo late? I can't take it anymore :S Even if the freakin' invitation card says 8pm women do NOT show up before 11pm. If the festivities do not officially start before 2am or even 3am, then we never actually get home until 5am (that's IF you skip out on the dancing and 'fun' after the 'dinner' at 4am - which I usually do)

My dad went to the same occasion. However, here, men and women have seperate parties (even if it's for the same occasion - which was my cousin's engagement in this case). My dad, of course, left at 8pm. My mom and I left at 10.45pm. We passed dad on his way going back home. While we were back home at the same time my younger siblings were getting ready to go to school!

I envied him. Men's parties are so efficient!

You know how women take foreverrrr to get dressed? and the men are usually waiting downstairs rushing and pushing the women to finish. well, you see... here is the key... If there is NO man waiting downstairs pushing you to get DONE and LEAVE... because he actually left already... getting ready never actually finishes! or at least takes waaay waaay longer. So what solution comes to mind here???

The annoying thing here is, getting ready is not my problem. I am also quite efficient at getting dresed up and ready. Yes, it does take me a full hour to perfect my make-up, but the fact that I DO know it takes me an hour, means I can be ready on time. What's so hard about being ready at 8pm if I start at 7pm???

The problem is that IF a woman really does actually show up at 8pm at the women's party, she would be doing a very embarrasing social faux-pas. Plus, it doesn't mean she will get to leave early. It only means she will be spending even more hours there in complete boredom (Since not even the band and the female singer, wouldn't have arrived yet) because you can't leave before the festivities are over. Or else, it won't count.

sigh...so yes, I was lucky to be in bed yesterday at 6am. I woke up at 11am when a friend called on the phone. I made some groggy noises and hung-up.

The nice thing is that she wasn't surprised that I was still sleeping at that time. I've heard her groggy answering before many times. She completely understood :)

posted by SunShine @ 8:16 a.m.