A new worker in town, me, and one of our friends at the wedding.
I had the privilege of attending my first wedding a few days ago. Remember the baby who was born prematurely? His mother’s sister is in the process of getting married. Yes, you read correctly. The wedding I attended was part 1 of 2. Part 1 is called a “fatee” – this is where male representatives of the bride and groom’s families meet together, formally agree to the marriage of their son and daughter, and the groom to be is expected to make a down payment towards the bride price. All of this happens relatively early in the morning and the bride and other women are in another compound, sometimes miles away. Afterwards, the men hang around, drink chai tea and juice, and play cards. Meanwhile, the bride is in a separate compound with her close friends and the other women in the family as well as close friends are in the mother of the bride’s compound cooking an elaborate meal of salad, sugar rice, goat, beets and potatoes, ground beef, etc. Around 2pm, the meal is served on a big platter and 6-8 people gather around to eat together. After this is finished, some girls from the bride’s family come very dressed up but still covered, sit together on a mat and sing songs. (I am trying to post a video but internet is slow now…).
The second stage of the marriage is still mostly a mystery to me at this point, but I do know that it is the time when the groom has raised all the required money to pay the family and the wedding is complete.
Chadian weddings are one topic of conversation, but Chadian marriages are a completely different subject. Soon, I plan to share with you the little I have heard, learned, and observed about marriages in this culture.