Just a little…
Not too much. I could certainly use more if anyone else wants to spoil me. Although that’s not required, of course. I’m just not dismissing the possibility, that’s all…
With weddings here, it’s culturally expected that the parents and family of the groom will give gold jewellery to the bride. Gold is the jewellery of choice because of its high resale value. Silver, white gold, platinum don’t have as high of a resale value because it’s not in as high demand. It’s a self-feeding mechanism, but, you know, whatever.
Let me see if I can put this into context…
For a very very long time – hundreds, if not thousands, of years, people in this region have used gold jewellery as a savings account of sorts.
I’ve heard tales of how women in the middle east and south Asia will, when hard times hit, sell links off their gold chains as needed to buy food or pay bills.
When good times come, they’ll buy more gold jewellery. Their walking savings account.
Social status is affected by the amount of gold a person wears, and at weddings, it’s expected that a woman will wear her expensive gold jewellery.
Anyway, then there’s me. I’m allergic to gold. No, not nickel. Gold. And no, I’m not mistaken. 🙂 And yes, I’ve had people tell me – not suggest, not ask, but tell me – that no, it’s not gold I’m allergic to, because it’s Impossible to be Allergic to Gold, but it’s the nickel instead. They’re wrong. I’ve read that gold allergies are more common than previously believed, and may affect up to 10% of the population. Personally, I don’t believe it’s necessarily that high… And I’m also not the only one in my family affected – there are three of us that I know of.
Anyway. Back to jewellery.
So the parents of the groom are expected to give gold jewellery to the bride, as are the other family members. Fahim, if he wasn’t married to me, probably wouldn’t be expected to give gold jewellery – he would fall under his parent’s gift-giving umbrella. But because he’s married, we, as in Fahim and I, as a family unit are expected to give gold jewellery.
And as a part of that, Fahim’s parents gave me some jewellery. I didn’t expect it and I personally don’t find it necessary, but then, it’s not a part of my culture. I do find it nice, however. 😀 Oh, c’mon, did you expect anything else?
Fahim’s mom wanted to give me my jewellery before the wedding since Fahim and I were married first, and from her perspective, that’s only appropriate and right. (I have a much more relaxed attitude towards all of this, but I can also understand where she’s coming from.) There were thoughts on taking me jewellery shopping to make sure I liked what I got – they’re not familiar with my taste entirely yet – but then, they opted on getting Fathima to buy something in Dubai (jewellery is cheaper there – as in, gold and silver) and bring it with her when they flew down for the wedding.
So, Fathima handed the box to her mother, who then handed it to me. Silver earrings and a silver necklace with semi-precious gemstones. (Have I mentioned I’m a sucker for colored stones? I love colored stones. Not a huge fan of diamonds because, well, there’s no color. But sapphires, rubies, emeralds, or other colored gemstones… Well, hey, yeah!)
It’s a little tight on my neck. Not quite to the point of choking, but it would be more comfortable with a necklace extender, so that’s something on my list to get. But that’s a very very small point.
It’s beautiful, and I love it. 😀
