Saturday we went to an engagement in area 23 with Catherine. It consisted of people dancing up the aisles to the front of the hall to put kwacha (money) in an orange plastic saucer...for several hours. The only varation from that theme:
*Women from the man's family went outside and covered up the groom and three of his friends with chitenje cloths. The whole group processed inside, and people put money in the saucer to guess which one was the groom.
*Repeat above, substituting bride and her three friends.
*The uncle from the groom's side and the uncle from the bride's side each held one leg of a roasted chicken, which they pulled apart.
*The same men exchanged a rooster and a hen.
We also got soft drinks and some snacks. The chairs were set up in rows of three, so Adam and I did not get to sit by each other or talk the whole time. And here is a random piece of information--last year at this time, we were not engaged!
Anyway, the "cultural experience" was interesting...but I prefer engagements in the U.S.--less boring for the expats in the crowd...
You can also tell that I took the photos:), but I wanted to point out that in the first one, the woman in the middle of the picture is grooving with a baby on her back! Nothing will slow Africans down while dancing!
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