Lost in the West

I love my heritage. i absolutely love my background and my culture. I do not fully understand much of it but i do know that it is rich, robust and enviable. So why am i suddenly extolling the virtues of my heritage and background? Well it's because i had a "cultural moment" this weekend which got me thinking...am i losing myself in the western culture?

So an old schoolmate of mine came down from Canada for the weekend. She had a wedding to attend in Long Island and wanted me to come along. Now of course, i wasn't too concerned about what I'd wear or how I'd look (I was pretty much just along for the food....lol). I picked a simple, pretty high waisted, A-line, aqua, floral printed, knee length sundress to wear along with some pretty, 2 inch heel, aqua, strappy sandals. It was fun and flirty and summery but elegant enough to wear to a wedding and still look respectable.

Well, the night before, we were up talking and I asked her what she was wearing. So she pulled out this very pretty tailor made green and brown dress and then...the most beautiful green "gele" (headdress) I had seen in a long time. Now a headdress or "gele" is a standard part of any traditional attire, without it, you are incomplete. It is your crowning glory and is expected to be worn as high and as wide as you can possibly manage without putting out the eye of the person sitting next to you (or two rows over).

And i had a whole suitcase of "gele" sitting upstairs in my closet...why hadn't I thought to wear those? Was I so lost in the western culture that it no longer even occurred to me to wear my traditional outfits? Was my "gele" destined to sit in that suitcase, gathering dust and reminiscing about their glory days? Right then and there, I decided that i too would wear traditional and tie "gele" (or do the best I could). As luck would have it, my friend had an extra piece of the headdress allowing us to look like we had matching outfits. I think we looked hot (if i do say so myself):