THE WEDDING - PART 2!

Well, the second part of the wedding started in the cathedral, and to say we arrived late there was still PLENTY of the service still to sit through. Our first experience of the Bishop preaching…shame we couldn’t understand a word of it! Then we went to the guest house for the reception, which I was rather hoping was going to be a buffet-style milling event…no such luck! We were all sat in rows in a big hall, and we got there at about 1.30pm…sat down for about half an hour on the hard seats and with no sign of any of the protagonists, Pam and I got distracted by the babies outside the church and went to play with Joshua and Mercy. We scooted back to our seats before the entrance of the bridal party underneath an arch and down a red carpet…I think Ruth may even have smiled as she was walking along – she never smiled once through the church service. It’s very strange to see, but apparently the bride never smiles during the wedding ceremony in Rwanda. Sue tells me there are two reasons for this – one is that traditionally it wasn’t a particularly happy occasion for the bride, because she was being ripped from her family and often didn’t have much of a choice of husband so it was all a bit traumatic. The other reason is that she is not supposed to look as though she is looking forward to her wedding night!!

The next three hours proceeded with yet more speeches (I told you Rwandan’s were fond of talking!) interspersed with the bride and groom drinking ceremonially out of a giant pot of local brew with straws.

And then probably the highlight of the event - the cake! First of all they lit fireworks in the top of the cake, and then…you won’t believe this…I was quite incredulous, and Fred looked less than pleased (see picture!) and I don’t blame him. Just before the cake is cut, someone whips out a can of foam and sprays it all over the bride, groom, best man and matron of honour! And this happens in every wedding apparently! Though Sue tells me that sometimes it is ‘silly-string’…and thus easier to remove! Very bizarre! Then the bride serves cake to the groom’s family (which she did on one knee to much amusement from everyone) and the groom serves cake to the bride’s family (which he didn’t do on one knee!)

Then…joy of joys – they served us cake! It was a slice two centimetres by two centimetres, and was the first thing we had eaten since breakfast…it was now about 4.30pm! I have never been so glad to have requested one of Rachael (our housegirl)’s mammoth omelettes that morning. It involves 3eggs and onion and potato and was really the only thing that stopped me from dying that day! We kept thinking that they were going to serve food, and then people started talking again….this time they were pledging cows in various numbers. I was seriously considering standing up and offering our goat…the only thing that stopped me was that Nathan had warned me that it would be taken as offensive to pledge a goat – though we later discovered that if it was all we had then it would have been accepted gladly…eh! Missed opportunity!

In the end, we crept out…like four Bazungu (pl Muzungu!) can do anything inconspicuously! Especially when they are wearing traditional clothes and sandals. The problem was, that there really seemed to be no sign of any food coming, not even pleasant smells of cooking…and we knew that Tubakunde House was full of babies that had come to visit. Nelson and Solange were there with Mercy and Melissa, and Christine had brought Nancy who is still as gorgeous as she was last week (isn't she?) Nelson and Solange had been to the wedding first though, which was the main reason for their visit. It was so lovely to see babies inside T house, even if they weren’t orphaned babies being admitted…but it gave a real feel of what the place will be like when it opens next year.


The day ended with a trip to Muhabura to eat…though by the time we got there we were so tired that the entire chicken that Pam and I normally devour between us, almost devoured us entirely! (oh I should add that whilst they serve the entire chicken we neither of us eat the neck or the gizzards!)

Well, this is a long entry again – hope you are still with me, dear reader! I must go and prepare, I have less than two hours left until I reach a quarter of a century, and indeed the middle of my 3rd decade. Woohoo! The excitement is too much to bear…though I have to admit mainly for those around me. It would be good if I made it to my 25th year, but if I’m not careful I won’t!