friday afternoon: take 1

so, i was invited by my friend (that i mentioned earlier taking me captive for a day:) to join her and her family for the Friday couscous. it was a really great time to spend with her, her mama, and two sisters. it started out with my friend meeting me in town and then we took a bus to her home in a neighboring city. we then went to her house so i could meet the family. i felt so welcome and was excited to be there. the food was not quite ready, so i went with the older sister to go call a friend at a teleboutique. then my friend decided to go for a stroll and sohw me the neighborhood. it was funny cause we ended up stopping off at a salon to have her eyebrows done. that was an interesting thing to watch happen:) my friend hasn't quite gotten used to tweezers, so part of the way through she had the lady shave the undesired sections off. hmmm.
well, then i mad a comment about the tikshetas/caftans that they wear here (we were passing by a boutique with them) and asked if she had one. she got really excited that i asked and i mentioned that i had my camera, too. so, we got back to her house and ended up doing a fashion show! it was a blast!
the first photo is of my friend's sister and i in tikshetas--i loved the one that i tried on cause the under-layer was blue and the top layer was yellow (one of my fav color combos). the ladies also decided to khl me, which is the black eyeliner that they wear in a traditional sense. it is pretty intense as it kind of burns and lasts for a few days!

now, i am here with mama and the younger sister. we were all wearing caftans. the difference between a caftan and tiksheta is that the caftan is just one layer and isn't quite as dressy and the tiksheta is two layers and a bit more formal.
now i am with my friend! she is wearing a tiksheta and i have another caftan on. these ladies had the hook up on some formal wear! it was a lot of fun to get all dressed up and take photos of all the outfits.










then, it was time to get the couscous ready to serve. i was decked out in a jellaba this time to pose for this shot helping dish out the couscous. they were so great! there were very happy to let me document this neat afternoon. so, after the couscous was dished out of this pot, mama added some water to fluff it and then poured it back into this huge serving dish to then pour over all the veggies and meat. in the next post you will see more about the actual meal and what was to come later in the afternoon:)