Wedding Weekend in Domasi

I discovered last night, and even more so this morning, that this is a popular weekend for weddings in Domasi. I was actually invited to one of them for a colleague/neighbor whom I’ve only met once, but felt too shy to go, as I would’ve had to attend on my own (Betsy’s out of town), and that’s awkward enough in the U.S., never mind a completely new culture. Besides that, Betsy joked with me that she thinks we were invited by default, as she caught one of her colleagues (Lazarus-the guy the Education Dept. who owns the music production company) filling out the invitations secretly under the table at a meeting we had 2 weeks ago. When she asked what he was doing, he had to explain, so she thinks maybe he just made out an invitation for her, and added me to it, since I’m the other ‘Mazungu” (ya, that means ‘whitey’ in Chichewa… catchy, eh?) So, it was pretty funny when she received the invitation in her ‘pigeon hole’ (For the Yanks, that’s British for inter-office mailbox—I’m learning a new English here, too.), as it had my name on it, too, perhaps because Lazarus thought she’d need a friend to accompany her, so she’s stuck with the only other Mazungu here, and that’s me.

In any case, I of course don’t think it would be appropriate to attend a wedding of someone I don’t really know at all, especially unaccompanied. So, here I am at home, watching cars and vans picking up and dropping off people in my neighborhood to go to the wedding (though I can’t remember what time it starts, as I tucked Deliwe’s salary into it, and I think she kept it, for obvious reasons.). Ironically, it probably would’ve been fine for me to attend, as like many things here, weddings are a village-wide celebration. Since this man is my neighbor, by default I should probably be invited. I hope he won’t be offended that I didn’t attend, but then again, I’m a Mazungu, and perhaps they understand that we have strange ways, so I’m likely off the hook. However, I must say I do feel like I attended the party this morning, as this particular neighbor was blaring very loud African music, starting at about 6 a.m. this morning (which, by Malawian standards, is equivalent to about 9:00 a.m. our time, due to the habit of waking up at the crack of dawn). When I asked Deliwe whether they were having a party there, she explained that actually, they were just celebrating their happiness about the wedding, and that’s their way of doing it. Another thing that wouldn’t go over so well in most places back home. It kept me up. Yes, me, the sleep-in queen. I was out of bed by 8 a.m., after my attempts to fall asleep amidst the loud music continuously failed. Ya, a true miracle.

Deliwe also attended a wedding today for one of her friends, and last night she attended the pre-wedding party/dance. It appears it’s often done this way, at least in the villages. The night before the wedding, everyone gets together to celebrate. This particular celebration was held at the “Village to Village” orphanage I visited last Saturday with Leah and Alfred. I thought that was pretty cool. Actually, I really wanted to go along with her to that one, but she didn’t extend an invitation, unfortunately. When she left, she said she’d only be out for a couple of hours, but in the end, she was there until past midnight. I must say, I was impressed, as she’s normally in bed by about 9 p.m. It must’ve been a great party. Of course it was. I could hear the music all the way to my house, which judging by our walk last Saturday, is a good 3 miles or so from the orphanage. Or, I guess it could’ve been another wedding, as this does seem to be Wedding Weekend in Domasi.

I think I’ll celebrate by going for one of my famous walks, camera in hand, before somebody finds me and forces me to get all dressed up and have someplace to go. Tuwonana! (Seeya later!)

***NOTE: Just after writing this new post from home, I proceeded to walk to my office in order to get online and post it. On the way, I discovered a "wedding parade" of mostly women and children dancing and singing. I decided to keep my distance, but continued down the road, and eventually stopped to "peep" in the windows of the Assembly Hall on campus, along with a throng of other peepers. Eventually, I ran into the deputy principal, Mr. Mwanza. I always run into him on the weekends for some reason. He told me this wedding was for someone from a nearbye village (maybe the one Deliwe went to, though I haven't spotted her yet), and he was on his way to Zomba for the other wedding (to which I was invited.) I had to decline, since I was definitely not dressed appropriately for a wedding. However, seeing how exciting the celebration seems to be, I'm excited to hopefully attend, or "crash" another wedding sometime soon. Maybe even this one happening on campus right now. One of the other "peepers" told me it's o.k. to just join in. I guess there's no such thing as crashing a wedding here. I love this country! If I can get some pix, I'll be sure to post them soon. Otherwise, I did get a tip from Mr. Mwanza that there will be another wedding on campus next Saturday, so I'll be sure put on my papparazzi persona for that one... stay tuned!