Farook, Abu Aroos, and a Suitable Dhow

Abu Aroos means (I think) Father of the Bride, which means that Farook must play Spencer Tracy's part (I'm showing my age, most people would think it was Steve Martin's part, or wouldn't have any idea what I'm talking about).

Farook's daughter is, or is about to be, married. In this part of the world, there's a ceremony called the marriage, after which the bride goes home with her father, and another ceremony called the marriage, after which the bride goes home with her husband. Farook's daughter has been through the first ceremony, and wants her half of the second to be on a dhow.

So last night we went to look at dhows.

One place to look is along the Bur Dubai side of the Creek, where about a dozen dhows await guests for the 8:30 p.m. dinner voyage. We arrived about 7:00 p.m., and managed to view about 10 dhows before they all sailed off.

For normal dinner cruises, we were quoted prices from €20 to €25. For a wedding party, if that's what it is (Farook kept saying it wasn't a wedding party, but he didn't know the English word for the ceremony) the price is about €20 per person for a two-hour dinner cruise, and roughly another €240 for each additional hour, if the party wishes to stay more than two hours. Of course, the price varies depending on how lavish the meal is, and on how lavish the dhow is.

Farook has already checked with some people he knows, but he wanted to compare prices and features. The dhow will only be for the bride's party, which is only women, and Farook wanted an all woman crew for the voyage. Some of the dhows said this would be no problem, but others said they had to have some men, but they would ensure that the men were kept away from the women.

Of the ten business cards he collected, Farook kept three and discarded the rest.

Since he, his daughter, and his future son-in-law want the dhow trip this month, he'll have to decide soon.

He hasn't told me what he'll do to entertain the men, so I assume they'll be eating goat somewhere on dry land, far away from the women.