One thing I love about our Arab city is the fact that when there is something to celebrate, our friends gladly share their joy, including everyone in their happiness. We see this in weddings as the wedding parties drive down the street with decorated cars, honking all their horns in celebratory rhythm. I thought that rhythmic honking was only for wedding parties, until tonight.
Today the highly anticipated Tawjihi results were
announced to eager teenagers and their families. The Tawjihi is the exam
given to high school graduates to determine whether or not they will be allowed
to enter one of the public universities here. So imagine everyone's SAT
scores being announced at the same time by a text sent to each student's
cellphone. The city literally erupts at once in a huge party, with
families celebrating their kids' "Get into college free"card.
The US embassy here thought it necessary to warn Americans in these
parts:
“Families
throughout the area often celebrate when the results are announced and, for
some, the celebration is exuberant,” the embassy statement said.
“Groups
of young adults typically drive around in cars blowing horns, sometimes
congesting traffic. This is sometimes accompanied by celebratory gunfire,” it
added.
We can
testify to the truth of this statement as the party began at 8:30pm tonight
when the announcements were made, and it is still going strong now, at 2am.
Add to that, occasional fireworks that can be seen and heard all over the
city. (Even now, I can see someone shooting colorful fireworks into the
sky down at the souk at the end of our street.)
My heart
goes out to the poor souls who did not test well. It would be incredibly
painful to sit in the midst of such a city-wide party, only to know you were
not chosen. I hear it is sometimes a night of suicides. Please lift
up the unfortunate numbers, that they would find their self-worth in the
Father's eyes and know He has a plan for their future as well.
