I saw this on Ameen’s blog and it was too good not to steal and post here. It amused me to no end.
Amman – A budding romance between a Jordanian man and woman turned into an ugly public divorce when the couple found out that they were in fact man and wife, state media reported on Sunday.
Separated for several months, boredom and chance briefly re-united Bakr Melhem and his wife Sanaa in an Internet chat room, the official Petra news agency said.
Bakr, who passed himself off as Adnan, fell head over heels for Sanaa, who signed off as Jamila (beautiful) and described herself as a cultured, unmarried woman — a devout Muslim whose hobby was reading, Petra said.
Cyber love blossomed between the pair for three months and soon they were making wedding plans. To pledge their troth in person, they agreed to meet in the flesh near a bus depot in the town of Zarqa, northeast of Amman. The shock of finding out their true identities was too much for the pair.
Upon seeing Sanaa-alias-Jamila, Bakr-alias-Adnan turned white and screamed at the top of his lungs: "You are divorced, divorced, divorced" — the traditional manner of officially ending a marriage in Islam.
"You are a liar," Sanaa retorted before fainting, the agency said.
Source: [IOL] via [Ameen’s musings]
Aren’t Jordanians just hillarious. We are just unique people.
Tom Hanks as BakrAdnan and Meg Ryan as SanaaJamila.
We relocate them to Vienna, Austria. Bakradnan is a tourist agent and SanaaJamila teaches embroidery.
Jerry Bruckheimer can direct all the action scenes and we slap a Celine Dion soundtrack on it.
“because truly, deep down inside, they are very much in love with one another”…*rolls eyes again*
like i said on ameen’s site, it is funny how they were attracted to each other, even on-line. its too bad they ended it that way, because truly, deep down inside, they are very much in love with one another.
Hello……Its so funny! modern technology is catching up the with wedded bliss among Jordanian married couples. Or as Hubby notes their fantacies.
Dear Alan,
Welcome to Mental Mayhem. And thank you for taking the time to comment here.
Thank you for your kind words. Hope to see more of you around here.
Oh no, I’m sure they’re not and that’s the point. Someone else was, concocted this tale around it modernizing it, localizing and adding a little zippy ending. Then they relayed to the boys (and girls) of Petra. And since, as you say, they are unaware of the Pina Colada Song (an old favorite of mine BTW) they give it not a second’s extra thought; “Publish” they cried. And the urban legend marches on … or maybe not. But it seems remarkably close and I’ve found that coincidence often has reason.
Wow hubby, the two tales are very similar but I doubt that Petra journalists are aware of the Pina Colada song!
Seeing that Petra is the source for this story and seeing that it is such a bastion of journalistic integrity 😉 I hate to doubt this tale. But it does have a Snopes quality. Perhaps that is due to my awareness of Escape (The Pina Colada Song). Click the link to hear an Amazon sample. Here’s the lyric:
In this Petra version things have been localized and modernized. They do end on a much sadder note as well. But they strike me as oh so simliar. Perhaps I’m too analytical. I don’t know.
As commented on Ameen’s, “Waal! What a coincedence! and hehe,they’re reactions are too funny 🙂
It’s fascinating how a person can fall in love with another person through their typing! but anyway.. I’m all for meeting people through the net, because you get to know the person from the inside rather than from the outside.”
Great story! If you think Jordanians are funny, Americans are even crazier. I have spoken with several women who have met their fiances online. They talk about their upcoming weddings. The only problem is that these women have never met their “fiances” in person!! This issue has come up a few times during internet conversations.
Love your blog! Great writing and superb layout. It gives a wonderful insight into life in the Middle East.