Here comes the bride

Saturday night I went to a wedding with Dora. She was invited and could bring a guest. It was highly interesting. The ceremony took place at the YMCA, where people can rent the main room. There were many tables already filled with people and three or four rows of just chairs in the back, where we sat down. I guess maybe 300 people. Music was playing as we were waiting for things to happen. Dora explained a bit about the wedding. Church had taken place in the afternoon.

Then in walked the best man and bridesmaid. Later the groom and bride. At the door they stopped and drank something out of a wooden cup with a large handle on it. Dora told me it was some local brew and a tradition. As they made their way to the front some speeches from the priest and a prayer started. The MC (master of ceremony) was next to speak.

I knew when to get up and sit down. After all, there were 300 people in front of me that showed me how to do it. In fact I was quicker than Dora most of the time... An Amen indicated the end of the prayer. Then it was time to cut the wedding cake.

I hope I am remembering the order right. I do wish I would have bought my camera. The room was beautifully decorated (apparently in one of the speeches later one woman said not even Europeans could decorate like this!) There was a thin cloth draped all over, with lighting strings inside. Flowers attached at the intersection points. I may see if I can get some of Dora's cell phone pix. They are low quality, but maybe describe better what I can't really express in words. The stage had throne-like chairs for groom, bride and flower girls.

The picture is NOT from the YMCA building, btw...

Then the relatives were introduced. They stood up and waved. A lot of times any speech was interrupted by the MC saying "Mafoki, Mafoki, Mafoki!" Clap your hands. But few people did as a tape has taken over the tedious job of clapping hands... Introducing the relatives took a while, as you can imagine with the typical large families....

Next came the bizarrest thing I have ever seen. A goat was rolled in. Its head was pretty much intact, but slightly roasted. The body was well done. Some piece of green was stuck through the mouth to make it look it was still eating... The groom and bride then started feeding family members.

After that it was time for presents. People walked up to the front... Oh wait. I have to define walk. When anybody "walked" up to the front they were of course dancing. Everything was done with music. It was sometimes hard fro me to hear what Dora was saying. Anyway, I also got in line to "walk" up to the front (actually, mine really did more like walking...) and with a few last second instructions by Dora I placed a 1,000 bill (less than a dollar) in the box. Most people put in envelopes (and I assume they contained money). Only a few had presents. Then I shook hands with groom, bride, bridesmaid and best man. Of course I had forgotten to ask Dora what "Congratulations" is in Swahili. So I just said "Ahsante" (thank you). Afterwards I got a drink as a reward (not for "dancing", I take it...). I took another bottle of water.

After that it was dinner time and we got in line to get good food. I had rice, veggies, fried fish, a cucumber and a piece of the cake. Yumm. We didn't stay much longer after that. The official program had completed, some people had already left. After some more talking apparently all that was left was dancing. So it was fine for me to leave...