honeymoon with the WHOLE family?

[doodlebug 3]

For those of you who stayed with your hubby's family when you went to be married in their country...how'd that work out for ya?

I think that is what we will end up doing since they'll be moving to a bigger place and now he won't be sharing his room with his dad........BUT..........I mean.............. ....do I still buy the lil naughty nighties or throw in my Lands End long john's instead? lol

did the family give you your privacy at all? Just curious how your experience was.

[sarah and hicham 3]

I most definitely went with a onesie.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

We always rented a place in Cairo for privacy, but when we went to visit his family, and closed the door, we had privacy. Egyptian women wear long nightshirt like things around the house before going to bed. Bring that for sitting around with the family and other stuff to change into when you're alone.

Also, bring the long johns, because it gets chilly at night there, and most families don't have heat.

[doodlebug 3]

I most definitely went with a onesie.

A onesie? That's like a t-shirt for babies. Do you mean footie pj's?

We always rented a place in Cairo for privacy, but when we went to visit his family, and closed the door, we had privacy. Egyptian women wear long nightshirt like things around the house before going to bed. Bring that for sitting around with the family and other stuff to change into when you're alone.

Also, bring the long johns, because it gets chilly at night there, and most families don't have heat.

Any pictures of these long nightshirt things? I can't picture them at all.

[Jenn! 918]

I stayed in my clothes hanging out with the family and even though they all sort of slept wherever, Wadi and I had our own room and bed. Yes, they definitely gave us our privacy.

[sarah and hicham 3]

a onesie is a one piece pajama with attached footies, yes.

I usually wore pajamas or sweats around the house with the family and we had our own room and bed to sleep in.

[ya falaha! 0]

I stayed with my inlaws and it was perfectly fine. They gave us plenty of privacy. If we decided we needed a little "afternoon delight" we went to our bedroom and got it on. No one said a thing. The only time they even acted like they knew what was up was when my SIL warned us that the water pressure was low so if we wanted to take a shower we should do it now. LOL. I brought lingerie, edible massage oils, all that good stuff. I just couldn't walk around the rest of the flat with the lingerie on. No biggie. A big plus for staying with the family was...I didn't have to cook or clean. I was basically treated like a queen. That was niiiice.

[doodlebug 3]

I stayed with my inlaws and it was perfectly fine. They gave us plenty of privacy. If we decided we needed a little "afternoon delight" we went to our bedroom and got it on. No one said a thing. The only time they even acted like they knew what was up was when my SIL warned us that the water pressure was low so if we wanted to take a shower we should do it now. LOL. I brought lingerie, edible massage oils, all that good stuff. I just couldn't walk around the rest of the flat with the lingerie on. No biggie. A big plus for staying with the family was...I didn't have to cook or clean. I was basically treated like a queen. That was niiiice.

Oh you're right...not having to cook all the time will be a definite bonus!

[ya falaha! 0]

The women usually wear galabiyas in the home. They are basically long house dresses. I wore them too in the home. Rahma is correct..it can get VERY chilly at night especially in the home. They usually have very heavy and cuddly blankets but you'll still need to dress warmly. Before we were married I slept alone so I froze! I wore sweats to sleep in even with those heavy blankets. My nose was always cold and I swear I could see my breath even in the house!

We always rented a place in Cairo for privacy, but when we went to visit his family, and closed the door, we had privacy. Egyptian women wear long nightshirt like things around the house before going to bed. Bring that for sitting around with the family and other stuff to change into when you're alone.

Also, bring the long johns, because it gets chilly at night there, and most families don't have heat.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Any pictures of these long nightshirt things? I can't picture them at all.

They're kinda like the house dresses some ladies wear. They're called galabeya in Egypt, caftans elsewhere.

It might just be more comfortable to stay in your regular clothes until you're in your own room. And if they insist that you change, then you can buy one for cheap there

http://www.alhediya.com/housedresses1.html

[noura 0]

I stayed in my clothes hanging out with the family and even though they all sort of slept wherever, Wadi and I had our own room and bed. Yes, they definitely gave us our privacy.

me too, lots of privacy, our own bedroom.... i usually wore my sweats, a djellaba, or the long niteshirt thingie.... I wear them here too most of the time.... I'll try to attach a pic.... here goes!

ETA** it wouldn't load my pic - file too large, gotta downsize it - i'll try again in a bit

Edited October 10, 2006 by noura

[ya falaha! 0]

Here's a pic of me wearing one of my galabiyas...ok I'm also playing around with the ancient treadmill. Not sure why my inlaws had the treadmill..no one used it.

I still wear them ALL the time here. I have many of them and they're soooo comfy!

Edited October 10, 2006 by moody

[sarah and hicham 3]

Nice t-mill!

[ya falaha! 0]

LMAO! Thanks! I told Mohamed..hey take a pic of me running on this thing. It made so much noise that it woke my MIL up and she came out of her room to see what was up. She probably thought I was nuts!

Nice t-mill!

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Heehee memories....

Let's see.... after we got married, we had a celebration/feast at the house, sat around with the family for a while, then everyone discreetly disappeared.

For a whole 35 minutes.

LOL they came back while we were still eating cake My husband was like "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat the...."

Anyway, later on we had privacy. Sort of. We closed the door to the bedroom, and no one bothered us. (Everyone else was sleeping on the floor downstairs next to the heater.) Mahmoud's father wakes up very early to read Qur'an -- he has a wonderful strong voice and it makes a magical sound flowing through the still-dark early hours of the morning. His mother usually started calling up the stairs at the crack of dawn "Mahmooooooud.... Mahmoooooooooooud.... " Of course I'm the only one up there awake to hear it -- he sleeps like a log

One day when I was still in bed (I had a terrible case of the flu) one of the sisters came herding up the stairs with her entire brood of 5 kids so they could all visit with me -- they had no qualms about barging right into the bedroom. And my mother-in-law sometimes showed up at the door unexpectedly with glasses of tea or hot sweetened milk.

So I would definitely bring something conservative yet comfortable to wear around the house with the family. (You can change into a "special" outfit when you need to, but it would be wise to change back before morning !) In Palestine, a lot of the younger ladies wear cute little matching warm-ups at home (zip-up jacket and sweatpants) which they refer to as "pajamas." (My husband bought a cute set in pink for me.) It is definitely cold in the winter, especially with stone floors and an unheated room, so warm socks are also a must ! Jeans are always good, too.

Enjoy !

-MK