At the outset of our annual town festivalthe mayor and other dignitaries as well as the wine princesses of the region gather on the balcony of the old town hall. The mayor gives a speech and everybody waits for the cannon to fire from the nearby castle. Once the shot is heard the mayor asks the crowd below: “Wem is die Kerwe?” and the crowd bellows: “Unser!!!” – and four days of revelling can commence.
A few years ago my husband and I were invited to the wedding of two Arab friends. He is from Syria, she from Iraq. The wedding was a rather large Arabic affair, with family and friends and acquaintances.
I knew that the traditional wedding gift at an Arabic wedding is money. The German soul in me has always balked at giving money as a present. On the odd occasion that I couldn’t avoid it I felt obliged wrap it and disguise it nicely and not just hand over the bills.
So there we were at the venue, the couple was sitting on an elevated dais and the wedding guests stepped up to congratulate them and give them their gift. There I was clutching this red literal piggy-bank when it suddenly struck me that a pig would be the most inappropriate present. I remember once dropping my keyfob (a pink pig) in class and the reaction I got from my students. From our time in Saudi Arabia I know that anything porcine, even a drawing or just the written word, makes them uncomfortable. (I blogged about the incident in 2016, if you want to read the whole post, you can find it here. Please note: I write in English and German and the English version is at the bottom of the post.) I got up with red blotches forming on my cheeks, retreated to the bathroom, fumbled the money out of the pig and packed it clumsily in my rather small purse. We handed over the money, in bills, without pretense. Peccadillo averted at the last minute.
At the German Dragon Museum in Lindenfels they have a Tyrannosaurus Rex’ skull. If these teeth aren’t SUPERSIZE, I don’t know what is. And although it is only the cast of a skull, it is protected against THEFT. In the end, is a DINOSAUR not … Continue reading Supersized or Bearded – It’s all just a Dragon to Me
pictures imperfect blog 