bookstacled.’s Reviews > A Second Look > Status Update

“They couldn’t quite put their finger on what exactly they disapproved of. They just had an instinct that this girl would give their son trouble if he was to marry her, and so they warned each other with subtle looks and some outright rude comments about her, to steer their sons away. They wanted someone haadiya for their sons.”

“Jana was loved by all the Libyan moms, especially the ones with eligible sons. Elizza was not such a big hit. She got along great with everyone, but the moms looked at her with a sort of disapproval.”
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Oh lol Elizza is me at this point. Though people only started comparing me and my sister long after she was married because we have a decade of age difference between us 😂.

“calling someone Umm or Abu anything was decidedly not a Libyan thing”
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Ohh! I would never have known! I thought it's a PAN Arab thing!

“It was often difficult for guests to sort out seating at a mixed wedding. Did the men go find seating with other men? Was each family supposed to find enough places for all their members at a table? Seating was rarely ever assigned at Arab mixed weddings, because you could never expect everyone who showed up to actually RSVP—or for those who RSVP’d to actually show up. Most times, you had to play it by ear.”

“Elizza would give her opinion on matters of religion if asked, but never felt comfortable correcting or imposing it on others.”

Sounds very relatable 💜