A wedding and some pictures!

On Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a wedding in the nearby town of Mayo Forra (about 45 minutes away). The wedding was very long and felt more like attending church than attending a wedding. Abdu and I were there for four hours and didn’t get to stay the whole time because we had to leave to go camping before it got too dark. The wedding had about an hour and a half worth of sermons, lots of dancing and lots of singing. It took place outside of the Baptist Church in Mayo Forra, and just about everyone there was Christian, I believe. The Muslims around here don’t really have weddings. You’re just married when you decide to be and go to the government to get the proper documentation. I was the only white person there and I got a lot of looks, which is pretty normal. The bride and groom do put a ring on each other’s finger at the end, but there is no kiss like there is in our weddings in the States. They do, however, get money stuck to the foreheads as a gesture of good fortune during a dancing/singing part of the wedding. I thought it was pretty interesting.

Another thing that was pretty interesting is that the bride looks sad throughout the whole wedding. The whole time I thought something was wrong but apparently it’s a tradition. It’s supposed to be a sign of humbleness and shame. She really looked depressed. I figured every woman was as happy as could be on their wedding day. She certainly didn’t look it. Joan told me that she probably is very happy on the inside-you’re just supposed to look sad.

Tomorrow morning, the Lokkers and I will leave to go to Bamenda for two weeks for a missionary kid’s homeschooling session called FES. Bob will actually come back to Banyo a couple days after we get there but will be back again in Bamenda to see Tim graduate. I will be helping out, teaching Algebra to 8th grade students. While I’m there, I’m hoping to get my hands on some hard to find motorcycle parts, as well as parts to make the air compressor usable. We shall see what I can find. I’ll also look for gifts and stuff to bring back home since Bamenda is apparently a good place to find lots of good “African-style” goodies. I’m just about all out of cash. I spent my last little bit on some soya after the wedding. So now I can go to an ATM at a bank in Bamenda and withdraw some more.

I uploaded a ton of pictures to facebook and everyone can see them by following this link. You don’t need a facebook to view the photos. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036304&id=1337370415&l=f412a9d1fe