Wedding!

First of all, I apologize in advance for the blurry photos. These were all taken on my iphone and it was dark and lots of movement. Since I was in the wedding, my photos are all from getting dressed and the party afterwards. In Rwanda, people can have up to 3 weddings--a civil wedding (ie signing the papers), a traditional wedding, and a church wedding (like our own American weddings). The one I attended (and was in!) was a traditional wedding which I am told is the least boring. I personally didn't think the wedding was at all boring and I had a blast! My co-worker's youngest sister got married and my co-worker was the matron of honor. My position in all this was kind of like an usher, or a service person. The traditional outfit, called Mushanana consists of a long skirt that you tie around your waist, a strapless top and a long piece of fabric that hangs over one shoulder. It slightly reminds me of a toga. So all of the service girls (I think there were 6 of us total) wore either a gold top with green Mushanana or a green top with gold Mushanana. My role once the wedding started was to serve drinks to "the old people." So here's how it all went down:

12:00  Rain starts

12:30  Get picked up by my friend, her husband, and the bride.

12:45   Arrive at wedding site (house of the bride's brother). The yard has been transformed with 3 large tents, two facing each other and one at the end of the yard. The two facing each other are reserved for the bride's side and the groom's side. The tents are white lined with bright green and gold, the wedding colors. Beneath the tents are rows of chairs and a head table in the front row. The third tent has a table with four chairs designated for the bride, groom, matron of honor and best man. 

1:30     Put on clothes, the tailor made my top a little too tight so the bride's oldest sister cut a few threads so I could breathe. And here I am in the complete Mushanana!

Getting ready!

Oldest sister giving instructions

The Bride calming her nerves before the big day!

Bride's older sister getting beautiful!

Matron of honor (my co-worker), Looks fabulous!

Bridesmaids getting ready

 2:00- 7:00  The wedding officially starts. A few minutes before, a man introduces himself to me as Mark. He tells me I need a Rwandan name and I am officially named Uwera. According to him, the name means "very brown" which I found hysterical. Apparently it also means "holy" and today at work someone else told me it can mean "perfect."  After the master of ceremonies started the ceremony I was directed to grab a tray with 2 champagne classes and a pitcher of liquid which I determined to be tonic water. I then walked in the rain to the groom's family, hoping the whole time that I wouldn't trip on my skirt, drop the tray, and ruin the wedding. Luckily I successfully made it over to the table to then have the father (?) say something to me in Kinyarwanda. All I could think to say was the greeting that I know, Amakuru- how are you? I was then escorted, with an umbrella this time, to the bride's family and passed off more drinks. Then I walked back to the house and was congratulated for successfully fulfilling my role. I think many of the guests were surprised (and entertained) to see a muzungu participating in the wedding but I had a blast.  Throughout the rest of the wedding I served guests drinks as they came in late and watched the ceremony. Basically the families joked around with each other and made each other do silly things in order to "prove" the seriousness of the request to marry. One of the men had to sing and I'm sure do other things that I missed because of my lack of Kinyarwanda. There was also a lot of traditional dancing and singing which was fun to watch. At one point, they called anyone who wanted to go up and sing or entertain. After the wedding, people lined up for a feast and the families said goodbye. Those of us who were left danced and drank wine and celebrated and boy were people into dancing.

Another co-worker who attended the wedding.

Drinking wine

My new BFFs!

The Bride getting her groove on!

Sisters dancing the night away

Favorite picture! This is the oldest sister's son. He was showing off his moves!

Mother of the Bride

9:30    The party ended and we said our farewells after a fun and exhausting day.