Iraq’s collapsing infrastructure disrupted even basic ceremonies like engagement parties

Evidence

In Ramadi the engagement ceremony was delayed three weekends in a row. The first weekend Ahsain injured his hand and had to have it stitched. The second week the cake, scheduled to arrive from al-‘Annab, a famous Baghdadi bakery, was never delivered, due to a blackout and a generator failure. By the third week, Lina’s older uncle voiced opposition to the union, but eventually he, too, was silenced. Two days before Lina and her mother left the country, the engagement was finally formalized with a party. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 635

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme of pre-2003 Iraq’s decay under sanctions and the Bakhtiyar-reading tradition of documenting mundane lives under siege.