Nahla El Gendy
JRMC 4460
Transcription for interview #3
April 21 st
, 2015
Today we are interviewing Khadiga Barrada, Noha Marei’s grandmother, who will be talking to us more about how weddings used to look like in the 1960s and the 1950s and how they differed so much than today’s weddings.
Me: Can you talk to us more about your wedding, who are these people and what were the procedures of the wedding?
Barrada: first of all, this is the official document of marriage, this is my father and this is my future husband and this is the man responsible, “ the maazoon
” (man responsible for writing the document at Islamic weddings). Look how it used to be, the father of the bride hold hands with the bride’s groom and they cover it with a hand kerchief, a big one, usually very big one, and while doing so the maazoon asks the bride’s groom do you accept to marry this girl and the father says yes I accept to give him this girl for marriage and then of course this very big hand kerchief they fill it with chocolates and candy and they give it to the maazoon. At the time of marriage we used to have bride’s grrom not only bring the bride the chocolates before and the candy and the drage, but he has to give her this in a silver box it is written on it the initials of my name “Khadiga” and the initials of his name and of course it goes around so that people can see it. (1:00)
Me: Where weddings held at home at that time?
Barrada: yes of course weddings were held at home, never outside the houses could accommodate, could accommodate, but you invite cousins and cousins of your father and cousins of your mother and friends and your neighbors and the houses could

accommodate and if it couldn’t accommodate, the neighbors would send a few chairs from their house (: 053)
Me: And then what happened, were there any special rituals about weddings back then?
Barrada: when this maazoon comes to have the wedding document, usually the girl doesn’t appear, it’s the father and the bride’s groom and the girl is inside and they give her a piece of sugar and when she takes a bit of it or sucks a bit of it, they take it, put it in a cup and give it to the husband so that everything she says will be like sugar to him and she puts a loaf of bread under her arm so that she would give him good livelihood and she puts her foot in some water with some green to bring him blessings (:043)
Me: Is it serious? They used to do that?
Barrada: Yes yes! And then after when the “maazoon ”
finishes writing the document, everybody comes to tell her “Mabrouk” so she removes the water under her feet and she gives him the piece of sugar to drink it in his syrup or whatever you call it. (:015)
Me: What about the “zaffa” or the wedding procession, how did it look like?
Barrada: we didn’t have a zaffa, because it was usually at home, so we didn’t have a zaffa but we got somebody to sing a few songs and some houses used to get a dancer, but in my case we didn’t but many others used to get a dancer for their wedding. And after writing the document of course, people would put a few pieces of music and then they would have a very good dinner (:044)
Me: Home mode dinner?
Barrada: yes home made of course, of course home made dinner, early dinner say 6,7,8 maybe (:006)
Me: And what about the music?

Barrada: Music ah, music they had a recorder and they used to choose the songs beforehand, special songs for wedding (:010)
Me: Like What:
Barrada: like “Etmakhtar ya helwa ya zeina”, this was a very old one, do2o el mazaher for Farid El Atrash they would do it and of course people would sing and would, you know, clap their hands and if there was a young girl, maybe 10 or 12, she would dance a little, Anyway this is how it was (:020)