Anita’s Introduction and Give-Away happened Friday and the wedding on Saturday. It was all beautiful. The Introduction is the most traditional part and went roughly as follows: A group of female relatives of the bride presented themselves to the groom’s family. The family looks for the bride, saying “Where is Anita?”. In this case, the group answered, “Maybe she’s gone to fetch firewood”. They are given an envelope of money and leave. The next group of female relatives presented themselves with firewood- but still not with the bride the groom’s family is looking for. Having said Anita might be fetching water and receiving the envelope, they left and the next group came back with calabashes. Ah, but still no Anita. Finally, they all came back with Anita. The groom’s family recognized her. Anita then had to find the groom among the relatives. She found him!
The Give-Away happened privately- a negotiation between two families for the bride price. And the wedding and reception were joyful- with a bubble machine, sparklers, confetti, and fireworks in the flowers in addition to the traditional dancers, singing preacher, and a hip-hop dancer.
Yesterday was my good-bye pig roast. (done, as all things here, with the aid of google and jerry rigging). We found a pig in the village last week and brought it home to the compound. There were some rough spots with the three guard dogs. I designed a rotisserie and had it welded. The project gardener kindly slaughtered and shaved it. And, mostly, the process went fine.
So I have said many good-byes and am on my way home. Unless something unexpected happens, this is my last blog post. Thanks for your interest! The photos are of the women with calabashes, Anita finding her groom, dancers at the reception, and Anita and Amos. (I’m sparing you photos of the pig.)
We have missed you, and will be thrilled to have you back. Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with all of us!
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