WEDDING
IN MWANZA TANZANIA, 05.05.12.
Antonia
and Maxwell
We were
staying in the beautiful house of Lydia, Agnes’ good friend and mother of the
groom. When we arrived in the afternoon they offered us to take a shower. Well
I thought that not necessary after having showered in the morning. But Agnes
told me that that is the hospitality they offer in Tanzania, so I did. There
was a shower but only with cold water. You get warm water in a bowl and scrub
yourself splashing much water on you, like a real shower. You get very clean.
Strange that we didn’t have such method when I was young, we used only a bowl
with water in your room and no possibility for splashing. We were treated as
special guests, eating just the two of us. Many people were visiting the house;
there was a lot of activity. Most were women and when a new one came in they
started lalalala-ing every time, very cosy. A woman was sitting next to Agnes
and I told Agnes what a beautiful kanga (a colourful cloth that is used for all
kind of purposes, women wear it over their clothes to protect the clothes or
bear a child on the back) the lady was wearing. When the lady heard that she
got up and after 10 minutes came back again and gave me the kanga she was
wearing together with a similar one. I was very moved about this gift. So now I
was African with the Africans!
The lady in the middle gave me the kangas
In the evening I was sitting next to a cow in
the garden that was peacefully grazing, not knowing that he would end up in
pieces on the fire later. They started preparing food for around 300 people for
the next day in the evening and it showed that they were cooking the whole
night! A tent had been built in the garden with a music stereo that had a lot
of volume. Several times Agnes and I offered to assist with preparing, but
guests are guests so we were no part of that. It was very interesting to meet
the groom, and his brother, who spent a year on a folk high school in Norway.
There I was speaking Norwegian in Tanzania! They were very nice guys. Agnes and
I were the only ones that went to bed and the music was going on the whole
night. At one I hoped they would turn down the music, it was nice music, but so
loud, but no, not even at two, three or later. Funny enough: at 7 Agnes stood
up saying: I have had enough sleep. I wondered how that was possible. We got
breakfast in the bedroom (we stayed in Lydia’s bedroom). Now I mean that you
should adjust to the culture where you are a guest, but eating liver and
kidneys and rice as a breakfast was not very attempting. I really tried, but
happily they also made bread fried in egg for the mzungu.
Two lovely brothers
two Agnes’s both
very nice women
It was
very interesting meeting a lot of people; I also liked very much to meet the
children. During the morning it started raining for several hours, postponing
the whole wedding. Not only rain, it rained cats and dogs. Afterwards many
people came and got food, eating with their hands. I really have to learn that,
it is efficient. The children got food and prepared themselves for the big
event.
Two
hours later than programmed we drove to the church. Guided by a pickup with a
band playing very good music. I got feelings of being in New Orleans. All the
cars drove in a row. Arriving at the church a colourful scene was being
designed: many people greeting one another loudly, dressed in all kind of
colours and lalalala-ing again. There was so much joy and warmth. A wedding is
a very big event where all the relatives are engaged. There is a committee that
organizes everything and everyone is contributing financially.
In the
church we discovered a cat with kittens that had made their home at the altar!
The church was decorated both on the outside and the inside. The whole ceremony
is so different from weddings in Europe. There is a lot of music, and people
come dancing into the church. Especially the brothers made a very nice
performance. The nearest family and guests were dressed in red and black, also
the decoration was in those colours. Agnes forgot that so we were different in
orange and peach. The hot item is of course the bride, she is beautiful.
The bride and groom dancing
into the church
The
choir was really good and swinging, also the relatives made a good dance show.
The bride with her sister as
witness
Relatives giving a terrific dance show
Before
and after church the band was playing all the time, leading all the cars. Now
it was time for shooting pictures and afterwards we went to a salon where Lydia
changed to another outfit. The wedding party was at the Malaika (angel) hotel
on the beach, a very romantic place. Here there was also a lot of decoration
with roses. Close relatives hold speeches and a lot of gifts were presented in
the middle of the tents. The food was excellent and a good musician was
rounding up the cozy atmosphere. I got very surprised when the groom invited me
to come to receive a gift! It was a nice
golden plant pot. It was an honour that a mzungu from so far away attended
their wedding. For Agnes that was a big honour because she brought me, she was
also presented a gift, a golden vase. At round one o’clock we were driven home
and were not in bed before 2.30 am. To my big surprise several ladies entered
our bedroom at 7 am showering and using the toilet, changing clothes, while
Agnes and I were still asleep. I thought it also a sign of confidence that they
felt at ease with this mzungu. Everywhere in the house people had been
sleeping, and that after the sleepless night before.
Antonia and Maxi
On
Sunday Agnes and I decided to go to visit the town. I bought a nice gift to my
sister in UK who would be 50 soon and we visited a very nice exhibition from
Syria. They were making kebab and a man making chapatti astonished us with his
skills. We took the matatu back again and everyone was laughing because Agnes
got confused with the Tanzanian money. You get 2000 Tanzanian shillings for 100
Kenyan, so the amount she wanted to pay could hold for the whole matatu. We
walked towards the house, the street was very bad. The day before the car could
not drive there without the bottom hitting the ground. The waters coming down from
the hills had made big holes in the street. I saw a lorry behind us and wanted
to go out of the way when I slipped and felt. It was 4.15 pm.
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