Caray, Caray!

Wow! This episode was a blast, Jean, and so was your wonderful recap! High Hopes? Perfect! (But now I'm stuck with this stupid song in my head) :)

This was the night of the Warrior Women -- of Gloria and Latifa, of course, but also of Zumaya for asking out loud what we all wanted to ask Abdul --If you're so in love with weddings, why don't you get married, for Pete's sake? And of Cristina for showing Marisa how a real lady behaves -- or as Jean shrewdly observes: "One wonders how Marisa would have behaved had their roles been reversed."

And yet another Strategic Swoon! I should have been keeping count of the faints in this show. I bet it's some kind of record.

Bueno pues I have High Hopes for tonight...♪♫♫♪
 

Strategic swoons and Warrior Women! LOL.

So now Jade thinks that young Lucas and old Lucas have betrayed her. Who's left?

I was kind of hoping Paula might decide that Gloria's tough love is what she needs and stick around.
 

As always, the recapper ultra-fantastic-ness is in no short supply!

Little Zumaya is becoming more and more like Zoraida every day. I'm glad someone commented a while ago that she's a Zoraida-in-training. :-)

I knew Doña Gloria could handle herself/would be fine.

And, finally, one of the moments I've been waiting para siempre for: Karla in the delivery room. (Just moderate hopes for what she'll have, though)
 

Jean, excellent recap! This was a fairly action packed episode.

Again: Rosa, STFU. I doubt we'll see much of Cris as woman of the Ferrer house since there's so little time left, but Rosa will do what she says or be out on her ear.

Another surprising reveal of Daniel as Major Miami Stud. While he looks like a dandruff-ridden, puzzled-expression loser most of the time, he's apparently a stallion between the sheets. This new chica, as well as the sKank, can't get enough of him. Yawn.

Loved Gloria's taking charge of Paula. I also hoped that some of Gloria's strength might cause Paula to ask for help, especially since we've seen several scenes of her desperately wanting to get off drugs.

I really enjoyed Alí and Zoraida's conspiratorial smiles as they plotted to get Mohammed out of his pickle. I really, really hope he goes back to Miami with a changed attitude.

The whole Lucas/Daniel/Jade thing is tiring at this point. I was saying: Oh, please! when she said she could stand to see the 40-year old Lucas with another woman, but not the 20-year old one.

Show of hands: who thinks Rania is really going to try to get along with Jade as she simperingly told Said in the restaurant?
 

One more thing. It was nice to see Said, for a change, not glowering, taking both women out for a meal and trying to broker peace.
 

Jean: woo-hooooo! Great recap, and finally we got an episode with some meat on its bones. I, too, was hoping that Paula would see in Dona Gloria the strong parent she has lacked. Could still happen.
I'm betting at this point that Nati is beyond redemption.
Also, did I see a little twinkle passing between Tio Abdul and Mohammed's fiancee? Was Zumaya's question to Abdul about why he's not married a (gasp!) foreshadowing?
:o)
Joan
 

Jean, bravo. Excellent recap and, once again, pictures and Spanish. The translations were of statements I found particularly difficult, so thank you. I'm going to be studying them more closely.

Didn't comment on NovelaMaven's excellent recap for yesterday, but it was so informative I gave up having to watch the episode! Now I'm a little caught up for a change. The snark ruled, but I had to give the blue ribbon to Blusamuri for "Pimp Daddy Abdul"!

Today's recap has me running to the TV to watch Gloria (Bless her)and, of course, Said's attempts to bring peace to his house. Etc., etc., naturally carrying high hopes in my mind. How could I have forgotten that? I was 27 or 28 when it came out, and I really liked it (not so much now at 79).

Any idea Jean and NovelaMaven what your next project will be? I'll follow wherever you go! Thanks, Lois
 

"It was nice to see Said, for a change, not glowering, taking both women out for a meal and trying to broker peace."

Very true, Novelera, but somewhat surreal a la vez, don't you think? "Man with Wives (well, wife and wife in limbo) at the Mall in Miami" -- Like a photo you might find hanging in an homage to Diane Arbus:)

Joan -- Tío Abdul with a novia? Ojalá!!!

Erin, Last night it looked like Miss K might not even make it to the delivery room! Güerito o morenito? What's your guess?
 

Joan and NovelaMaven, Zuleika doesn't seem like a bad person. I don't think I'd stick her with Tío Abdul. Whatever she did, she'd be accused of being una exhibicionista.
 

Thanks all for the nice words. You folks make it all worthwhile.

I hope Zuleica isn't so desperate for a husband that she would consider marrying a disgusting old man like Abdul. He may choose a pious wife but we know he has been lusting in his heart after Gloria.
 

Joan,

What woman in her right mind would want to marry Abdul....Ewww!!!

Great recap, Jean.

Ann-NYC
 

One thing I can't understand, they want woman covered from head to toe. Yet when they have these parties, they have these dancers with hardly anything on dancing very seductively.....what's with that???

Ann-NYC
 

Ann, I think we agreed that the novela writers are not portraying the Muslim customs correctly.

Here is an interesting response to this question posted on a website by someone who claims to be a bellydancer - so I can't verify its accuracy. However, it is consistent with what I have read elsewhere about this.

The official Islamic stance on bellydancing in public is that it should not be done nor should any dance. The only acceptable dance situations are in your home with your blood related family and for some close friends of the same sex who are also believers, in front of your husband, and some times at a wedding(this is not really suposed to be allowed it's more just a time when you can get away with it).

Traditionally a good Muslim would never dance in front of anyone who did not meet those above mentioned criteria. Bellydancing has generally been done for women by women and is not the sexual dance that many people mistakenly assume it is. Dancing of any kind was generally only performed in public by women of loose morals and by gypsies.

Today in Islamic counrties this generally still holds true. Most of the top name bellydancers (such as Dina and Lucy are notorious for their other services which the render, they deny that they offer these services but everyone knows what really goes on).

Although some countries are a little more lax on enforcing Islamic ideas and because each family is different in what they view as being acceptable or what they will ignore there are many younger arab women who are dancing in public at nightclubs (not professionally just club hopping) but among professional dancers they tend to be only nominally Muslim altough there are some who would argue that. The fact is that if a woman from a Muslim family decides to dance she does it in a different city far away under a fake name so that hopefuilly her family will never find out and be publicly shamed.

Some dancers will take up hijab and perform hajj when their reputation becomes so bad that their saftey is threatened but they generally return to dancing after several months at most. Once they have children they also tend to stop dancing and take up hijab. Bellydancing can be very tempting especially among the poor because there is a potential to make a lot of money and in a place where jobs are few and money is tight some do what it takes to put bread on the table.

It is actually interesting to note that in many places for example egypt there have been fewer and fewer Egyptians who dance and foreigners have been moving in to take their place. Almost anywhere you go you will find yourself watching a bellydancer from russia or europe. A few people in Egypt actively try to preserve the dances and strive to elevate them in the public's eye to an artform.
 

Thanks, Jean, for the very informative comment about belly dancing. So our TN is not really reflecting reality in the Muslim world, imagine that!

I haven't been to one in years, but here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there was a fad in the 70s of going to Moroccan restaurants with a group of friends. They always had belly dancers, and pretty good ones. The food was always the same: lentil soup served with thick, crusty bread, then bstilla (that wonderful sort of pie that was chicken or other foul - I think it's supposed to be squab - in a crust with a flavorful sauce inside and powdered sugar on the outside). Then they served the main course which was, as I recall, kebobs of lamb or beef.

The belly dancers, who certainly looked some sort of Arabic ethnicity to me, would then come around and the men were supposed to put paper money into their costumes.
 

Thanks for the info, Jean. I'm not only learning Spanish but a lot of other interesting information. That was very informative.

Ann-NYC
 

Jean, I agree, very informative. I found myself wondering how Adbul could sit there smiling indulgently while odaliscas danced nearby.:o)
As I recall, early in the show, there was mention of the bellydancers being Egyptian, obviously being women of looser character perhaps?
Okay I am starting my list, startin with the A's:
Abdul ends up with a young bride.
Alej ends up with Andrea
Anita ends up with Escobar.
Joan