This has been a pretty interesting week. I got to go to two wedding parties, one on Tuesday and another last night. The wedding party on Tuesday was short and slightly boring, but the one last night was amazing.
First of all, it was a very, very fancy wedding. So fancy that Semra and I got our hair done for it (Mom, I should have brought a prom dress to Turkey). It took place in a hotel right outside the city. There were over four hundred people there (this is not an exaggeration, there were at least 40 tables (they were numbered) and each table sat 10 people). There was a four course meal that consisted of salata (salad) and appetizer type things, then et (meat) and pilav (rice), and dessert that included fruit and a type of Turkish pastry and then at the end we ate wedding cake. It was a spectacular wedding cake that had 7 layers.
I finally also got to see a wedding ceremony (this is the third party I've been to, but the first that also had a ceremony). The ceremony was really short, no more than 5 minutes. I don't really know what happened because the only thing I understood was when the bride and groom both said evet (yes) which I'm assuming is like saying I do, because everyone cheered and clapped when they said it. Afterwards, the fathers of both the bride and groom spoke, but I don't know what they said because the only thing I understood was Hoş Geldiniz, which means welcome.
After that, the dancing started. There was a live band, which had 2 percussionists. One of them played a drum set, but the other played the maracas, the bongos, and a Turkish version of a sort of bass drum. They were amazing. At one point, they played a Turkish folk song, and one man danced a folk dance. About halfway through, a 9 year old boy started dancing and imitating him. It was really cute to watch. Later, more people were folk dancing, and Semra made me try to do it, but I felt really awkward, so I sat back down and kept watching.
At one point during the wedding, all of the guests lined up to give the bride and groom takı, which are wedding gifts. Takı included gold bracelets, gold earrings, and some gold coins. All of them were tied with red ribbon and the guests pinned them on the bride and groom.
After that, the dancing and eating continued until after midnight. It was a really fun and interesting experience.

Well, I hope everyone is having a good weekend. School starts on Monday and I don't know how I am going to do because I can't really communicate with anyone. Wish me luck!