Speaking of Love...

I'm just getting home from a wedding that I was invited to a few days ago.  I think I've finally gotten the three ceremonies down.  One is a ceremony in which the bride and groom's fathers give one another gifts, the second is of the signing of the marriage documents, and the 3rd is a reception-type ceremony with food, drinks, dancing, music...you know...regular reception-type activities.   I'm assuming the ceremony I went to today was the one where the two father's exchange gifts, but I'm not too sure since I was two hours late.  The wedding began at 10, however the student I went with came to get me at 12.  The bride is her friend and since she was going, I figured I would wait until she was ready so I wouldn't have to go alone. 

When we arrived, we were ushered to two seats in the  back of the church and asked what kind of Fanta we wanted to drink.  I asked for my usual Orange flavor (which never came, by the way) and then focused my attention on the happenings at the front of the room.  For the short time that I was there (about 1 hour), here is what happened:

One of the father's stood and gave a short speech and then presented the other father with a gift; the gift being a jumbo-sized bottle of Coca-Cola Zero.  After speaking for about 5 minutes, he opened the bottle, poured both himself and the other father a drink, made a toast and they took a sip.  Next, the bride entered the church with her wedding party.  Instead of flower girls, about 6 children danced and sang to the beat of a drum as we all stood and the bride marched in behind them.  Once she was in, we all sat and enjoyed another dance by these cute little girls.  Next, the bride and groom walked around the church to greet and hug their parents and then returned back to the front of the church.  Next, they were each given a glass of their favorite Fanta (Orange), and took turns lifting a cup to the other's mouth.  After this, two songs were sang by the church choir and to my surprise, once they were finished, the bride, groom, and entire wedding party stood and began to march out of the church.  I wasn't expecting the wedding to be over so soon, but I guess when you're TWO HOURS LATE, it tends to seem a little shorter than usual.  However, I am glad I was late because it was hotter than Satan's toenails in that church!  Once I finally made it back outside into the still not-so-cool air, I greeted a few of the church members I recognized and made sure to ask if the wedding was over (since I wasn't 100% sure).  When I got the yes answer that I was looking for, I started on my way home.  No sooner than I turned to walk away, an older woman walked up next to me and grabbed my hand.  I have no idea who she was, but she walked with me and talked with me, hand in hand, until we arrived at my house.  (The old ladies here are the cutest...I love them to death)!  And now...here I am writing to all of my amazing friends and family back in the states (whom I miss so very much, might I add).  It's just 2:10pm and I have nothing else on my agenda for the day...So I'm thinking the Lion King will do to pass some time (:

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea