Wedding Drums

Sitting in the lavishly appointed lobby of Cairo's "Le Passage" hotel, where we transferred to earlier today in order to meet the rest of the group, we were aroused from our post-dinner sluggishness by a cacophony of hand drums and trombones (don't ask) marking the arrival of a wedding party. A vision in pure white taffeta resembling some spun sugar confection, the bride was briefly glimpsed descending the sweeping stairway, while the nervous groom - ever so the deer caught in the headlights - awaited at the bottom of the stairs among the elegantly attired wedding guests. With clapping hands and the flash of cameras in synch with the drums, the entire wedding party quickly disappeared up the stairs, swallowed by their own enthusiasm.