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We attended a wedding
of the brothers of one of Lee's employees. Lee thought is
was an unusual wedding, because he didn't even get to see
the brides!! In Peshawar, women are generally only seen by
the men of their family. This practice is called purduh.
Accordingly, the men were all entertained in the men's area,
and Victoria and the boys got to visit with the women and
children.
Victoria's hand,
painted with Henna, typically done by women before a wedding.
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Later, Victoria went to another wedding by herself. This young
daughter of a wealthy Peshawar politician was being wed to
a man she had never met. After this day, where the women feasted
in the fmaily compound and the men feasted in the more public
areas in fornt of the house, the groom was going to come to
take his bride away to his family's compound, where she would
live the rest of her life, leaving only with his permission,
and subject to the whims of her husband's family.
Some weeks earlier, Victoria had asked this educated young
woman whether she wanted to go study in the United States
and her elder brother had. She did not see that in her future.
At her age, about 18, she was to be married. To a man her
parents choose. That was the way it always was. If she was
lucky, perhaps her wedding contract included a provision that
her husband's family would allow her to continue her education.
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