What do you get when a bad 80s style prom meets My Big Fat Greek
Wedding meets a Baptist revival meets… I don't even know? If you
guessed a Tanzanian wedding ceremony, email me and maybe I'll bring
you some great present from the market today. (Maybe.) The past few
days have been a flurry of research with FADECO, working on class
assignments and wedding festivities, so please excuse the lack of blog
posts. I'll try to recap as thoroughly, and yet succinctly, as
possible.
Thursday we met with the chairperson of the district's albino
community, and spent the morning interviewing him about the current
state of relations between albinos and the rest of the population.
(And using FADECO's free wifi, but that's besides the point) There is
a history of violent attacks and grave robberies on albinos, as witch
doctors claim their limbs and other body parts can bring economic
success or health benefits to the one who possesses them. It was sad
to hear him talk, and say he was even scared to come to town to meet
with us, and we all left wondering what could be done to improve the
situation in the future.
After lunch we had class, and then headed to town for the second (but
the first we attended) of the wedding related ceremonies. The "send
off" is an important event in the life of the couple as well as the
town, as it celebrates the bride leaving her family and community and
joining those of the groom. Its an hours long event, including a
honking, cheering, waving parade through town, a dinner (served at
like, 11 pm) and the presentation of different gifts to and from both
of the families. The outfits are ridiculous, the vehicles are
dangerous, and loud and high-pitched cheers of "i-ei-ei-ei-ei-ei!"
punctuate the entire process. I was originally supposed to ride
standing in the back of a pick up truck with about 20 cheering women
in shiny blue evening gowns, but Caitlin and Paul quickly vetoed that
plan as too dangerous so I ended up sitting 5 across in the back of a
car. After parading through town we ended up at a reception hall
where we would spend the rest of the night dancing, eating and
singing/laughing along with the random Mariah Carey and Enrique
Iglasias.
Friday morning we visited another secondary school, this one far
outside of town and one of the best in the region. We met with the
headmaster (who said we should know Swahili but didn't know English
enough to tell us) and a class of students who were all really nice.
In the afternoon we went up for the wedding, which was actually a lot
like the send off but with an hour and a half church service- all in
Swahili but officiated by an Austrian priest? We didn't get home until
after midnight so we've all been dragging a bit today. This morning we
shopped in the local market and in the neighboring village, and the
rest of the day is ours to relax before visiting our friend Fahim's
farm and having Paul's class tonight. Tomorrow we'll wash clothes in
the morning and hike in the afternoon. We're all enjoying our last few
days here, but excited to head out on Wednesday for the safari and
last leg of the trip!
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