Yallah Middle East 2.0

[iceyspots 0]

The discomfort could be solved by having a religious marriage without registering it civilally. That's what my husband and I did. *shrugs*

Where my husband inquired in Morocco, they would not perform an Islamic marriage if one party was American without the paperwork that goes along with the civil marriage. Maybe it depends where you go in Morocco, but it wasn't an option for us. I know some people do a milk/dates exchange and/or have Al-Fatiha read in front of two witnesses, and this is enough for them. It really is up to the individuals and what feels right to them. My husband definitely felt the formal Islamic marriage contract (and all that entails) was what made us "married".

I also didn't plan on getting married there my first time - I wanted to make sure that when I got home, when the "high" was over, this was what I really wanted. Hindsight is 20/20. It is hard to say I would do it differently because we are both happy now, but I do think going back a second time and getting married would have pleased his family.

It took time here because the Imam wanted us to set up meetings with him before he performed the marriage, to talk with us/counsel us.

Rebecca

Yes.. me and Yacine had a Fatiha... That was good enough for the family/neighbors... lol

20 Days ...

ARE YOU EXCITED!!!!????????

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Yep... the bureaucracy is crazy...

Mogama mogama mogama. Fun to say, not fun to run around in.

[iceyspots 0]

I have a question for all...

Anyone ever heard of sipa noodles?

I'm not quite sure what they are used for, I was wondering if I could cook up something with them

[dollface41601 0]

the reason i say about marrying before anything is i visited sofyan for a month in march of 2005. we caused ALOT OF problems with his family and relatives because we were living together and only engaged....it all didnt make sense to me at the time, but once i returned home, and everything was explained, i felt miserable for ever putting myself, my husband, or my family overseas in that situation...

and yes JP....i needed the affadavit from the embassy saying i was not married in the united states

[Bosco 1]

I have a question for all...

Anyone ever heard of sipa noodles?

I'm not quite sure what they are used for, I was wondering if I could cook up something with them

I cannot tell from the picture, but are those the small pieces of angel hair sized pasta?

If so, I use them in harira and other soups, and sometimes cook them as a sidedish instead of rice. I will use a little chicken bouillon in the water to add flavor.

Rebecca

[iceyspots 0]

ah okay... I don't care too much for soups... yes they are small thin noodles... I'm wondering too where I can find the long thin thin noodles ?

[LebaneseMama 1]

19 days ...

Am I excited ?

We are :

Excited

Happy

Looking forward to 7-7-06

Nervous

Praying

Confused with all this paperwork

He's sad he's leaving his family ....

So deep in love ....

Missing each other

I'm cheering him on

Asking for VJ mojo for that day

So I guess excited just doesn't cut it when we have an interview that we have been two years and two months for in 19 days !!

[iceyspots 0]

The tension is mounting !!

[noura 0]

ok, off the topic... but iceyspots, i heard you got to chat w/ my habibi today! he's a sweetie, huh?

He was impressed w/ ur french and arabic!

Noura

[Veiled Princess 1]

the reason i say about marrying before anything is i visited sofyan for a month in march of 2005. we caused ALOT OF problems with his family and relatives because we were living together and only engaged....it all didnt make sense to me at the time, but once i returned home, and everything was explained, i felt miserable for ever putting myself, my husband, or my family overseas in that situation...

and yes JP....i needed the affadavit from the embassy saying i was not married in the united states

YEP! Yousuf and I had those same concerns.. he got there a few days before me and found an imam and had him waiting for me when I arrived so we wouldn't be alone together before we were married

[amal 4]

You all are some crazy fast posters!!! Each day I get on here..there are 2 or 3 more pages than the day before and I ended up getting behind and couldn't catch up!!!..took me 3 days to read the last few pages!!!

On the "proof of being single" thing.. Yeah, I had to provide my divorce papers all notarized by everyone known to man to prove that I was available for marriage. It was an easy process..Just waited in the embassy for a few hours waiting for them to call our name to say..oh ok..you're single, great.. here's a paper from us saying u're free to do as u please.

I would recommend to visit first to make sure its what you want to do because the visa process is so so so so so so so so long now and it is a bit on the expensive side. Take your time to decide if it is the right thing for you. All the visas are taking about the same amt of time now so do some reading and see which best suits your needs.

K-3 = comes to usa (relatively the same amount of time as CR-1) but can't work for around 90 days.

CR-1 = comes to usa with ability to work upon arrival of green card/SSN..

We did CR-1 just so he wouldn't be "trapped" for 90 days but it took at least that long to get adjusted. Heck, we are still adjusting and just now beginning a job after almost 5 months...... I wish you luck in your journey.

amal

[iceyspots 0]

ok, off the topic... but iceyspots, i heard you got to chat w/ my habibi today! he's a sweetie, huh?

He was impressed w/ ur french and arabic!

Noura

Hey.. was his posting name Sainour? Yeah he was nice.. Wished him the good luck, I didn't know if he was new or connected to any ME/NA posters at all.. haha.. we turned the entire thing into a french/arab chat.

I have a question for all...

Anyone ever heard of sipa noodles?

I'm not quite sure what they are used for, I was wondering if I could cook up something with them

I cannot tell from the picture, but are those the small pieces of angel hair sized pasta?

If so, I use them in harira and other soups, and sometimes cook them as a sidedish instead of rice. I will use a little chicken bouillon in the water to add flavor.

Rebecca

Ok... I am making halal chicken noodle soup with it right now.. I'm not much of a good cook.. wish me luck.. LOL

[iceyspots 0]

Ok.. here goes the soup... Everything was hunky dory... I chopped up two large chicken breasts into little pieces then I put them in the steamer to make sure that they cook all the way through. I chopped up an entire bag of baby carots, a whole stalk of celery, and a whole bunch of french onions... then I added those into the steamer... prepared the broth, I used 6 bullion cubes into the broth.. then the vegetables and meat were about done, I added them to the broth. let it boil for about 15 minutes... Then I added the sipa noodles, that's when the trouble started, it soaked up ALL the broth! I added some more water and I didnt want it to dilute the taste, so I left it how it was... it turned out to be more like a stew than anything, but I dont really really care for soups so it was excellent!!

Here's the evidence

oh.. umm.. anyone have some gladware I can borrow ???

[Aymerlu 3]

Ok.. here goes the soup... Everything was hunky dory... I chopped up two large chicken breasts into little pieces then I put them in the steamer to make sure that they cook all the way through. I chopped up an entire bag of baby carots, a whole stalk of celery, and a whole bunch of french onions... then I added those into the steamer... prepared the broth, I used 6 bullion cubes into the broth.. then the vegetables and meat were about done, I added them to the broth. let it boil for about 15 minutes... Then I added the sipa noodles, that's when the trouble started, it soaked up ALL the broth! I added some more water and I didnt want it to dilute the taste, so I left it how it was... it turned out to be more like a stew than anything, but I dont really really care for soups so it was excellent!!

Here's the evidence

oh.. umm.. anyone have some gladware I can borrow ???

Yummmmm! Looks like you made enough for all the group here.

My poor honey does not know what he's getting into when it comes to my cooking. I CAN'T cook! And the harder I try....the worse it is! I was happy when I found canned mashi a the international store the other day. I told him about it and he said "NO PROBLEM MY LOVE" Gosh I love this man!

[iceyspots 0]

Hi Aymerlu

I'm not really terrible when it comes to cooking, I'm just not experienced at all... Since I'm in school and working I'm almost always eating out or just making sandwiches, or grabbing ensure or slim fast.. But now that school is out for the summer, I'm working on my inventive side! Yeah the noodle soup was an easy start but I want to be able to cook once I'm in Algeria.. Maybe his mom can teach me some things ? lol... But the thing is that I have to use items that can be purchased in Algeria so I have to stick to the fresh, natural fruits, vegetables and meats.

I do cook every now and then, but I was wondering if anyone here has an East meets West style of cooking? Because I do know some lebanese families that will cook a traditional american platter, and the next day a traditional arabic platter.. I tend to mix things up..

For example, I'll get halal bone in chicken from the meat market, coat it with shake and bake, then I'll bake it for 45 minutes.. and use cous cous with chick peas as a side dish, with steamed asparagus as a vegetable.

Or I'll chop up pieces of halal lamb and sautée it with snap peas, brocoli and green paper.. with olive oil and serve it over some arabic rice with pine nuts and light seasoning.. etc..

Then to add to those meals I'll cook lentil soup, and/or prepare a caesar salad..

Am I weird or what? lol