Ethiopia Snapshot 2.

Harari wedding. The night before, the bride's friends and family congregate at the bride's house. The elders sing songs: first the men, then the women. There is dancing. It is like the Indian Catholic Ros, but somehow more joyful (but the food isbetter at the Indian one). The women are dressed in silk leggings and long shirts with headscarves - almost shalwar kameez).

Later the groom arrives on a mule, followed by his family. His elders have a sing-off with her elders, each one taking turns singing louder and saying more... Afterwards, they argue over who won and then peace is established. They apply mehndi to the bride's hands and everyone goes home to prepare for the wedding the next day.

(and an accompanying story: my friend told me of a wedding she attended of two members of the royal family. They smoked so much and drank so much at this night-before party that they were both completely wrecked at their actual wedding. In the Orthodox Christian tradition, priests chant for hours and it is such a grueling exercise that the bride and groom are given canes to lean on so they won't fall over. In this case, the bride was so high that she simply sat down on the ground in the middle of the ceremony When the blessed bread came around, she had the munchies and grabbed handfuls of the host and chowed down in front of all the priests.

(sacrilege! but royalty... so... accepted).

4:29 p.m. - 2009-08-03