The One With The Wedding (10/21/2012)

Yesterday the school groundskeepers’ son got married.  The entire school staff was invited so Dahlia and I got to go.  The wedding was in Kapelekese which is a little over an hour from our house.  Moses, the school librarian, walked with us.  In typical Tanzanian fashion we arrived late, about 4 hours late, so unfortunately we missed the ceremony.  But we arrived at the church just in time to see the bride and groom walking out together followed by a procession of all of the guests waving flags of different fabrics, singing, clapping, and whistling.  They walked next door to the pastors’ house where they signed their marriage certificate and then the whole party began the hour ling walk to the brides’ house where the reception was being held.  When we got to the house the bride and groom sat down at a table with their maid of honor and best man behind them (they sat there fanning the couple for the next few hours).  The crowd sang and danced around them while on the other side of the house hundreds of plates of rice and bananas and meat were being served up.  Mr. Mbughi, our neighbor, seemed to be the MC of the night, calling out songs to sing giving speeches and praying over the couple.  Dahlia and I had to leave just before dinner though because we had about a two hour walk to get home and only two and a half hours of daylight left.  But the walk back was beautiful!  And it was so wonderful to experience part of a Tanzanian wedding!