Hisham's brother Fawzi lives in Ramallah, has been dating his girlfriend for about a year, and is ready to get married. So, in following with tradition, the to-be groom's family traveled to the to-be brides family to do the initial asking for her hand in marriage. The asking is really meant to happen between head of the groom's family (usually his father) and the head of the brides family (yep...usually her father). Hisham's Dad wasn't able to go so Hisham and a friend of the family in Ramallah served that purpose.
It is very important to note that the Tulbeh is more than just the asking, it is the point at which negotiations take place regarding the timing of the formal "ask" known as the Jaha (when the entire groom's family/tribe travels to the bride and formally asks for her hand in marriage, marking the beginning of the engagement (the introduction of this article gives a good description of the Jaha and its significance), the duration of the engagement and the brides dowry. Rather than valuable possessions the bride brings to her marriage (along with, of course, herself) serving as the dowry (as defined here), in the Levant, the dowry is a sum of money and gifts (usually gold) given to the bride from the groom's family ( what is described as the "bride price" in the former definition).
In our case, the Tulbeh took place in two stages:
1. a talk between Hisham's family friend and the to-be brides father, and
2. a lunch with the to-be brides family and our family
Before the lunch, however, we had a free day so I set off to explore Jerusalem while Hisham finished some work in Ramallah. Additionally, we made a trip to Bethlahem the day after the Tulbeh.
From here, I will leave you with my experience in images posted by location. I cannot present all the images together; each experience was uniquely powerful, and, deserves its own space.
Part I. Leaving Ramallah: The Wall
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