Thursday, December 20, 2012

Marriage


Hello everyone,
It's been a little while again. No travel means few adventures to tell you about. Also I had lots of exams, and therefore little time. I am now officially on break, and will return to school in January to finish up a couple classes before returning stateside (!).

I did go to a marriage in Douala last weekend. Douala is very hot and sweaty. The marriage was lovely - Friday night was the traditional ceremony, and then Saturday the civil ceremony and reception like in the US. They are apparently going to do the marriage in the church later. My host father played the role of head of the family for the groom. There were lots of jokes and teasing (I'm looking for the woman that can make traditional macabos (which are kind of like potatoes) for me!). It is tradition to bring out multiple girls hidden under a sheet to see if the real one can be recognized, and give money to the family before the real girl is brought out. My host dad said things like "This is the girl that  makes cous-cous, not macabos!" to the amusement of the gallery. Also, I had to have my host mother translate for me because most of the ceremony was in one of the traditional languages. It was a relief to hear French, which I can understand (this also exemplifies the progression of my French!). Anyway finally the right girl was brought out, and they had to give more money to bring her to the groom. Words were said, and after a long final discussion about money, the heads of families drank palm wine and ate vita kola, a traditional bitter nut-type food. Then we could all eat.

This is finally the bride, but we had to put money down for the "plane ticket" to get her to the groom

Palm wine

The next day was essentially how weddings happen in the U.S. The bride and groom both looked lovely (although she is very young, 20 years old!) and it was all emotional and happy. My parents and I left a little early to visit a number of friends and relatives in the city before returning to Yaoundé the next day.

I'm going to another funeraille in the West with my family this weekend, and then I'm planning to stay in the West and stay with a different family in a village there for the week to experience a different life than that of the city. I've been wanting to do that for a while, and unfortunately the timing has never been good. Going now means that I will miss Christmas with my host family here, which I'm really bummed about, but I'll return for the New Year's celebration, which is apparently more important. It also means that I won't be using the internet for a while, so I'm going to wish you all Merry Christmas now! It's my first Christmas not with my real family and friends back home, which is weird and sad. I miss you all!

I made a cake for my brother's birthday the other day, which was awesome. I miss baking a lot, so was quite delighted to have the chance (although never the same when I don't have my real mother with me). I did it at a friend's house because she has an oven, so I'm not sure if it'll happen again.

That's all for now. I have much more to tell you about culture here generally, but I imagine there won't be many more posts. After I return from the village there is the grand fête, and then classes start again, and I'll have to be working madly before leaving because I leave before the semester technically ends. Then, I leave. Yikes.

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