Celebrations

On Saturday Sean and I were invited for the wedding of our friend Magdalena, a cleaner at our school. She, too, has a child of a few years and is maybe only a few years older than me. The wedding was Saturday afternoon. Sean and I thought it proper to attend the actual ceremony, but upon arrival we soon realized that not many (read, none) of our other friends agree. But the wedding was interesting. The church was maybe only a fourth full, and there were actually three brides all being wedded at the same time. Magdalena read the first reading herself, and another groom (not hers) read the second reading. The time came for exchanging vows and there was a small card passed from couple to couple to read the necessary words. Exchanging of rings happened one after the other as well, with an emphasis on lifting of the hand high and placing the ring on the other's finger. The last part of the wedding is the signing of the marriage license (or maybe signing the Church's book?). The wedding wasn't very long – maybe an hour and a half. When it was over, the three newly wedded couples stand at the altar and everyone goes up to congratulate them. After a procession out of the church, a group of women stood in a circle and began singing traditional songs and dancing traditional dances as others clapped and made noise. It was incredible.

We had about two hours until the reception was to start – it was held at the Youth Centre where we worked, very near to the parish and our house – so we returned home to rest for a while. We decided not to go right on time, because from past experience we know that nothing ever starts on time. We ended up meeting a few friends for a drink and some chicken (we also never eat until late) and headed to the reception about 2.5 hours after the official “start.” We walked in right as things were beginning!

It was great because all of our friends from school also went – a few of the other teachers, one of the drivers, some of the cooks, a few people who work in the office. We all sat together (facing the direction of the bride and groom) and watched things happen. There was an MC as usual, some entertainment such as a few people dancing and then present time came. The group of us from Peter Claver went in together to buy a bunch of things Marg needed for her house. When Peter Claver was called, we all went to the back, collected cups, bowls and plates, gathered in a group and danced the items up to the bride and groom. For some reason, Marg didn't show a single smile almost the whole night, but finally she cracked a big one to see us all dancing around her. Later, we danced kitenge (printed material used for making dresses) and trouser material up to her parents and draped them around the two, who sat expectantly in the front.

The whole night was incredibly fun. Sean and I were just one of the group, not given special treatment as we usually do. It's actually quite a relief to not have special seats or be told to do something by ourselves. And I loved spending time with our school friends outside of work. Usually our 30 minute bus rides to and from is where we can be silly and joke around, but this was totally removed from work and everyone just enjoyed each other.

The party continued the next weekend when Sean decided to buy a goat with one of our bus drivers. Our bus driver, Mtaki, told Sean he knew how to kill and prepare goat, and Sean must be blood thirsty (teasing!) after he killed and prepared a chicken in our backyard with David, so they decided to do it together. They bought the live goat from Mtaki's neighbor and took it to the Jesuits' residence to prepare. It took them most of the day. Sean invited almost every employee of the parish to our house for “mbuzi.” It was so much fun to have all these people in our living room, eating goat, drinking beer and soda, and laughing together. They are such wonderful people. Like most gatherings, we went around the room and did introductions, even though everyone knew each other. Everyone laughed when I introduced myself as “Neema” (Grace) and said, “Rose ni shostito wangu” (Rose is my best, best friend). After the whole goat was eaten, we found some music and had a little dance party in the middle of our crowded room.