Uganda Day 36

This weekend was good. Saturday was just the break I needed. I had a leisurely morning doing homework, laundry, and dishes. I went shopping with Flora. It hit me the other day that they live meal to meal buying as they need instead of 'stocking up' as we do when we go to the grocery store. I mean it makes perfect sense considering that we do not have a fridge and even if we did when there is no electricity half the time one really cannot keep things long term. So if potatoes are purchased from the market today, potatoes shall be for dinner. Alas, we had pineapple. Glorious pineapple. I have really come to appreciate fruit on this trip since it is such a rare occurance. I decided to make dinner Saturday night and I made kielke, which is basically a dish of onions, potato, noodles, and sausage. I think it went over very well, and my tummy was happy because it was not fried or cooked in large quantities of congealed vegetable oil. I fear that it was on Saturday that my cold began...

Sunday, my family, Mama Aida, Harriet, Noah (the last of Mama Aida's children that I had yet to meet), and I went to an introduction ceremony. The purpose of this introduction is for the Bride's family to meet the groom. traditionally, the bride would introduce her paternal aunt to the man she wished to marry and after the aunt had met him and approved it was her job to present the groom to her family. It was actually kinda cute, because the groom had sat in with his side of the family and awhile into the ceremony a few of the aunts pulled him out of the crowd and 'showed him off'. As a good Ugandan Daughter, I wore the traditional gomez. Here I am with Harriet.

The ceremony was supposed to start at one, but Mama Aida was under the impression that we were supposed to be early...so around 12:30 we arrive at the introduction and there is almost no one there except for those who are setting up. So we sit. Sunday was lots of sitting for me. The ceremony was all in Luganda when it fianlly did start at 3 or so. I really did enjoy seeing all the different colored gomez arriving.The ceremony lasted about seven hours and consisted of many different members of the Bride's family meeting the groom's side and being presented with gifts.

Something i found very interesting was the presence of two MCs. Both the bride and the groom's sides had an MC and I feel like there was more interaction between the MCs and each other and the MCs and the bride's brothers, sisters, aunts, etc. I was really surprised at how little the bride's father said. He maybe gave one speech. And the bride and bridegroom themselves said nothing, at least nothing that was for the whole of people to hear.
Another interesting traditional custom I witnessed was the giving of the bride wealth. Basically, the groom or his family pays the bride's family for their loss, and man she must be one heck of a girl...there were at least nine cases of soda, five or more cases of water, three large bags of rice, a plethora of baskets filled with food, suitcases, two hens and two roosters (Chickens are a big deal here in Buganda, to be given a chicken as a meal is a huge honor. In other areas of Uganda cattle are a common bride wealth gift), boxes of soap, and many other things I am sure I have forgotten. Kinda makes me wonder what I am worth...
Traditionally, the bride and bridegroom cohabitate after the introduction ceremony, and usually if it can be afforded the wedding follows very quickly afterward. However, recently, or with the introduction of western church ideals, the church has started to question the integrity of this practice. It brings into play when is a couple truly married before God? After the traditional introduction ceremony or the western church wedding? It is amazing the things that western culture has done to change and try to mold the African culture and make it fit into the western mold.
Today, I am off to Salama! Please pray for openness and love for me to spread around on the sweet children I will encounter today.
Have a beautiful Tuesday and enjoy these last couple September days!