“We’re young, but we’ve been married for three years, and people often assume that our marriage was arranged. It wasn’t. It was a decision each of us made.”
“Tell me about how you fell in love and what happened next.”
“I first saw her when I visited her family. And I knew right away that I wanted to marry her. Then, in our culture there are three different stages. First comes the engagement. At this point there is no commitment. We tell people that we’ve fallen in love, and we want to know each other better before we get married. We take this stage very seriously. We don’t touch, but we focus on getting to know each other’s personalities really well. The next stage is called ‘Melka.’ That’s when we exchange rings, and we are officially married, but we don’t live together yet. We still have a chance to get to know each better, with fewer limits and no family supervision.”
“Can you still change your mind and walk away at this stage?”
“You can, but it would be almost like a divorce. Still, people would know that you broke the Melka; you didn’t get divorced.”
“And the last stage is the social marriage, with a big gathering of family and friends. At that point we are officially married, and we can live together.”He then turn towards her and said, “So let me ask you, How do you feel now about your decision to marry me? Do you still think it was the right one?”