After a quiet enough week at work our weekend was very exciting. On Friday night we went out with our host parents for a drink or two in a nearby kiosk/bar. While walking there it was the first time I noticed bats flying around in the sky! Maybe the full moon had something to do with it. Then Bright casually said yes they sleep in one of the mango trees in the garden! Luckily they are not after Mzungus but rather mosquitoes so they are friendly ones. After jokingly asking Bright are they any bats that go after cockroaches he gave me some special chalk, designed by the Chinese (so it must be good), that will keep the cockroaches away. The idea is that you draw lines on the doors or on the ground and the dust from the chalk effects the cockroach and kills them. I was half tempted to put some on myself but thought better of it. Unfortunately Bright only gave us one stick of chalk, hopefully that is enough and now our once brown bedroom door is covered in white lines and hopefully the cockroaches can read because I wrote “Stop go back” on the ground.
On Saturday we relaxed in the Finnish housing project area by going for a swim. We had hoped to play some tennis but we only had one tennis racket, then we thought we could play table tennis as we have the rackets, but no balls! We done a little work out in the gym and then went to the pool to relax and read some magazines and saw Ari’s face in one of the Suomen kuvalehtis! I was wondering why there is so many of the same magazine here. In the evening time we were invited to a house/disco party. Upon arriving we found out we were the only ones invited by our two neighbour wazungus. We had some food and they told us that the hospital students have organised a party for the new students so we are invited go to, a bit of a surprise but along we went anyway. It was good fun, the music was loud and the locals had their own style of dancing ; )
On Sunday we had planned to relax go on a bike trip around the back roads of Mtwara. In the morning our host mother Jennifer said that there is a wedding in their church today and that we are invited. This was the first time we had heard about it and the wedding was due to start in 3 hours. We went along to the church as it is more or less open for everyone to visit. The ceremony was quite long with the people that were taking part in the church walking really slowly to the altar. The wedding was due to begin at 11 but due to African timing it started probably at 12.30. During the ceremony there was a lot of singing and shouting from the guests, AMEN!!!! One funny incident happened during the ceremony when the uncle of the bride was invited to the front to say some words regarding his niece and the future in law. The only thing was that he had forgotten the name of the groom and had to be reminded! Not a good sign for the future son in law!
After about two hours in the church we left for home to relax until the reception, during the church service we were told that they had some invitations for us to join the evening session. The MC had informed us that the reception will start exactly at four o’clock, if anyone keeps time in Tanzania. Bright informed us that nobody keeps the time here and how right he was as the evening session didn’t start until at least 17.30.
Only those that contributed to the wedding, that is, have given money to the couple, are invited to the reception. After another slow walk to their seats the MC was eager to take over the show as a result of the two microphones which he had in his hand. The MC was talking through out the reception telling jokes and welcoming not only the locals but also the foreigners (Wazungus) saying that it was an internationally wedding also because the groom is from Malawi. After some family introductions and welcoming, it was time for the cake cutting which came before the meal. The cake is divided among the family with different layers going to different families. But nothing is giving to the guests. Also the bride and maid of honour when giving a piece of cake to the groom and best man respectively they must curtsy as a sign of respect for them. Also when the bride was giving a piece of cake to her new mother in law she went down on her knees and handed the cake to her while on her knees then stood up when she took the cake, although the groom didn’t have to go down on his knees.
After this the wedding couple gave out same sweets to all the couples for their contribution in which the MC continued to talk throughout the event telling the DJ to stop the music, put in music louder, lower, change the music etc. When the sweets were distributed we where then invited for food. There was so much food available that the plate was not big enough for everything and interestingly we had to use our hands for it as there was no cutlery available. But we are well skilled in eating with our hands now.
After the food was eaten it was time for the giving the wedding gifts to the couple. Due to our last minute notice about our participation in the wedding we quickly bought a card and put some money inside. It was well organized how the presents giving should be done. There was a basket for cards and loose money and the gifts where giving to couple. I am not sure what was happening but the MC was calling certain people up to give the presents and certain people would then make a speech about what present they are giving and talk a little about the couple. This of course was preceded by a long walk in from the front door with the gift. After people had given their gifts they left while others stayed around until the very end.
One thing that was different from this wedding and European weddings was that there was not a lot of dancing, but maybe this has something to do with the church as it was a Seven Day Adventists wedding. With Kanda getting married in two weeks which is a catholic wedding it will be interesting to see the difference, although I am sure the time keeping will be the same.
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