From Georgetown TX....

We are camped in Jim Hogg Park on Lake Georgetown, a United States Army Corps of Engineers Park (the Army Corps of Engineers provides public engineering services in peace and war to strengthen national security, energize the economy, and reduce risks from disasters). Lake Georgetown is a water reservoir on the San Gabriel River built to supply water to local cities and provide flood risk management and also offers fishing, camping and boating. It's a lovely place to be situated!

As we mentioned earlier (Mar 7), we are here for the walima or marriage celebration of nephew Collin and his bride Raha; walima is the second of the two traditional parts of an Islamic wedding. The walima is performed after the nikah or marriage ceremony. The word walima is derived from awlam, meaning to gather or assemble and designates a feast in Arabic.

Rose Lynn's nephew Collin has become Muslim and found his bride here in Georgetown. His parents were here in December for the nikah and we met up with the three of them at the Park for a walk and visit before our evening at the bride's family home.

Rose Lynn's henna pattern

As is customary in this culture, the women spent time together visiting and having henna designs applied; the bride had the tops and bottoms of her hands and feet adorned with very intricate patterns. Henna is a vegetable-based stain applied freehand in a similar manner to piping icing onto a cake (only much finer!).

The men were in another part of the house, also visiting, until it was time to enjoy the potluck meal of traditional Pakistani and Indian foods.