The day before the wedding, on the Friday, I'd been to the dressmakers so she could re-fit my Kitenge. It was done within a day. If this was the UK, you'd be requested to come back in a week say, and have additional charges I'm sure. Before going into town, I asked everyone in the office if anyone needed anything. The office boy looked shyly at me, but didn't reply, so I said if they thought of anything, they could just text me. Whilst I was out, I received a text from him saying; "Whatever present you will chose to bring, I will appreciate, thank you Amy". Ergh...I wasn't offering to bring a present, I'd only asked if people needed anything in town and they would pay for it?! Communication seemed to be letting me down here. I'm learning though :)
I was due to meet Betsy in town at 8am, but unfortunately she got held up due to the muddy roads since she was driving in. I put on my Kitenge top and skirt. The African look obviously worked, since a lady stopped me in the street, and started talking to me in Swahili. I only understood the odd word she said, but it turned out that her daughter was a house girl, and she was looking for work for her. I had to explain that I was here only temporarily.
I went into 'Motions', the hair dressers, and there was only one other girl there who was getting her hair styled. The two hairdressers seemed nervous, and asked what I wanted done. I wasn't entirely sure myself, and was looking for inspiration from them really! They suggested curling my hair, so lets see what happens! They were keen to take photos of me – perhaps this was the first mzungu that had attended their salon? They put all sorts of treatments in my hair – I think it was more to tame it, as they weren't used to working with such fine, flyaway hair. They couldn't get the rollers in place, as my hair wouldn't behave, but finally, with more coconut oil, we were away.
I sat under these dryers for 30mins, and nearly frazzled! It turned out that curling was quite a popular, as many women were coming in for it. The salon really filled up. When the curlers came out, all I could think was how greasy my hair looked. It was like someone had poured a bottle of olive oil over my head. Hmm- I wasn't all that convinced. It cost me 200KS (=approx £1.50). I just couldn't believe how cheap this was, thinking about what I pay in the UK! Whist I was there, a girl was getting her eyebrows done. They took a metal razor blade (like the ones used in the old razors), and shaved her eyebrows off. I don't think I'll be getting that done!
The wedding was a beautiful ceremony. It was held at the Noble hotel in Eldoret, which is only along the road from where I live. There were around 1000 guests (including my GSK PULSE colleagues from Kisumu, Kathy and Gabi). There weren't enough chairs for everyone to sit, and people were stood around the sides of the hall. There were a few traditions which were different to back home. The priest invited the bride and groom to kneel, and said it was traditional for the family to spit on them, however, instead of spitting on them, he invited them to touch the couple as a blessing.
We went for a huge buffet meal afterwards (I tried a different type of ugali, which was brown rather than white) which was lets say…different, and there was an African band, with singers, and a comedy sketch. After the pictures of the bride and groom had been taken, the bride was led in by all the women present, doing African dancing! The two families all did speeches, including aunts, uncles, cousins, mothers, fathers, grandfathers, and grandmothers, so you can imagine they went on for some time. It became clear that the wedding was not just about the bride and groom, but about the joining of two families. After the cutting of the cake, there was some more African dancing, and then it was time to clear away and leave. I was surprised that all the guests weren't invited to an evening reception like at home. It seemed that the after party was only for close friends and family. The bride and groom received so many gifts. As you left your gift for them, you had to sign your name in a book, and leave your phone number. I'm not sure if they'll even know who I am, but I put my name down anyhow. The grooms parents own the dressmakers, and repair shop in town, and my colleague, is good friends with them (They were able to help Mira out when the straps on her (new!) rucksack from Nairobi disintegrated!) The after party seemed to be for close friends and family only.. It was nice to meet Kathy and Gabi and exchange experiences so far, and I really enjoyed the African dancing :)
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| Fitting the head dress at the dressmakers |
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| At the dressmakers |
I was due to meet Betsy in town at 8am, but unfortunately she got held up due to the muddy roads since she was driving in. I put on my Kitenge top and skirt. The African look obviously worked, since a lady stopped me in the street, and started talking to me in Swahili. I only understood the odd word she said, but it turned out that her daughter was a house girl, and she was looking for work for her. I had to explain that I was here only temporarily.
I went into 'Motions', the hair dressers, and there was only one other girl there who was getting her hair styled. The two hairdressers seemed nervous, and asked what I wanted done. I wasn't entirely sure myself, and was looking for inspiration from them really! They suggested curling my hair, so lets see what happens! They were keen to take photos of me – perhaps this was the first mzungu that had attended their salon? They put all sorts of treatments in my hair – I think it was more to tame it, as they weren't used to working with such fine, flyaway hair. They couldn't get the rollers in place, as my hair wouldn't behave, but finally, with more coconut oil, we were away.
I sat under these dryers for 30mins, and nearly frazzled! It turned out that curling was quite a popular, as many women were coming in for it. The salon really filled up. When the curlers came out, all I could think was how greasy my hair looked. It was like someone had poured a bottle of olive oil over my head. Hmm- I wasn't all that convinced. It cost me 200KS (=approx £1.50). I just couldn't believe how cheap this was, thinking about what I pay in the UK! Whist I was there, a girl was getting her eyebrows done. They took a metal razor blade (like the ones used in the old razors), and shaved her eyebrows off. I don't think I'll be getting that done!
The wedding was a beautiful ceremony. It was held at the Noble hotel in Eldoret, which is only along the road from where I live. There were around 1000 guests (including my GSK PULSE colleagues from Kisumu, Kathy and Gabi). There weren't enough chairs for everyone to sit, and people were stood around the sides of the hall. There were a few traditions which were different to back home. The priest invited the bride and groom to kneel, and said it was traditional for the family to spit on them, however, instead of spitting on them, he invited them to touch the couple as a blessing.
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| Bride and Groom |
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| There was some serious Africa dancing! |
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| Plate topped full of East African food...yum! The brown stuff on my plate is ugali! |
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| Myself, Fredy, and his childminder |
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| Before the celebrations begin |
You look quite resplendent in your African regalia. I guess it was safer to stand well back when the dancing started, those badonkadonk’s can get a bit unruly (I hear).
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you. Sadly, I don't know when I'll get the chance to wear the African attire again. Indeed there was some enthusiastic shaking of badonkadonk's. I tried to join in, but failed miserably.
ReplyDelete