Welcome back, it’s been some time since my last post. The MSU-GPA group has been busy as ever. Up until Friday, between our exams and studies Chris and I’ve attended a Tanzanian wedding. More recently we’ve recently arrived in the ever busy, developing  city of Dar es Salaam and have spent the a day checking out 13^th century  ruins on the coast, touring the city, and relaxing poolside  enjoying the view of the Indian ocean.

Sadly to say I have no photos of the wedding. However many of the ceremonies and customs were similar to those back home. It was this experience that allured me to the true meaning of “African Time” the infamous term two of my friends from Nigeria introduced me to years earlier, but I never understood exactly what they meant until last Saturday when Chris and I went to celebrate Holy Matrimony Tanzanian style!

We were invited to a family friend of Chris’s who informed me and him that he arranged us to be picked up around two to arrive at the ceremony which would start around 3p.m. We met our escort  for the wedding around 2:30 and arrived on scene roughly 3:00 p.m.  as planned. The set up was in the midst of the Village Chris’s Family friend grew up in. The wedding took place in a structure which included cinder block walls with window squares and a large tarp covering the area over head. The structure was packed an hour after we arrived and the ceremony didn’t begin for another forty-five minutes after that. Though uncomfortably squeezed in our seats Chris and I tried to decipher the preacher and Co.’s words with little to no avail. We sat for the next hour making out the few verbs we knew and listening to the brass band playing outside the church.

Once the ceremony finally began; first thing first the bride and groom signed the marriage papers then afterwards approached the alter. Despite the past three weeks of exposure to Swahili this next stage of the wedding was not understood by me or my friend. After an another hour or so of deciphering  the same 20 verbs, the bride and groom said their I do’s and the entire church met in the courtyard to greet, congratulate and give gifts to the newly-weds. I was pretty disappointed leaving the wedding. I was happy to experience it but expecting a bit more to the eye. It was earlier this day our host mother explained to us: “the Tanzanian receptions ARE the wedding”. Despite this I would not understand until we finally arrived.

After photographs with the newly-wed’s family and friends at a nearby hotel around 7:00 we left for the reception. Arriving by 8:00 with each step I understood the meaning behind Mama Mganga’s words. The reception took place in a beautifully decorated large tent with smaller adjacent tents containing small refreshments. Unfortunately for me and Chris African time was in play here too; we enjoyed the small snack still looking forward to dinner and awaited the arrival of the bride and groom. Quite some time later they arrived and the reception was the jump off everyone had told us it was going to be. The reception was initiated by the arrival of the bride and groom; announced by an M.C who also introduced the Newly-weds family. Dancing immediately followed which included anyone willing. I pulled my friend up and we learned the Tanzanian version of the Hustle.

Multiple customs and traditions followed the beginning of the reception such as the cutting of the ceremonial slaughtered goats (and Cake.) The reception truly was the wedding.