Monday, January 30, 2006

This weekend celebrated the wedding of Nthunya (our Field Coordinator) to the love of his life, ‘Manapo. According to tradition, the ceremony was held on Saturday in the bride’s church with a reception to follow in her village in Quthing. Her village is about 4 hours away, so I was not able to attend. On Sunday, the bride and groom go to the groom’s church to receive a blessing and then to his village for a reception. And it truly was a reception!

Nthunya’s village is Ha Tsilo, about a 45 minute drive off the main road in Matsieng (about a 30 minute drive outside Maseru, just past the airport).


As soon as I arrived, I was fed…a lot. My plate was heaped with beef, mealy meal, beets, carrots, and pumpkin squash and I ate until my seshoeshoe (traditional dress) became uncomfortable. I knew the meat was fresh since the leftover parts were sitting beside me as I ate.


It’s impossible to say how many women it took to prepare all the food, but there were huge containers as big as laundry baskets filled with mealy meal. And there was ginger beer galore. Ginger beer is very interesting. It starts out with a taste that resembles gingerale. Then you swallow and experience this strong stinging sensation on your tongue and intense burning in your throat that goes away after about 10 seconds. It’s actually quite tasty.


After about an hour, Nthunya and ‘Manapo arrived. As their truck (a car would never have made it on that road) rounded the bend of the mountain, the children of the village started to sing and dance. They led the procession into the village and up to Nthunya’s mother’s house as the women at the house ululated their welcome.


Nthunya’s mother danced and ululated the loudest. When the happy couple got out of the car, Nthunya’s mother swept the path in front of them with her broom. The wedding party was welcomed into the house while the children continued to sing.



After the welcome to the house, the couple processed to the wedding tent where friends and family made speeches for the couple. I understand a word here and there…thabile (happy), lerato (love), etc…but overall, I didn’t have a clue. Then Nthunya gave a speech, in which I assume he was thanking everybody because I heard “kea leboha” (thank you) a lot.


When the speeches were over, the children danced, the accordion and make-shift drums played, and the people ate. As you can see from the pictures, there were many people there. I would say between 250 and 400 people altogether.



Eventually, the men sang and danced and the bride and groom changed into their traditional dress. They both looked absolutely glamorous in their traditional dress.




The women sang in procession to the tent, leading Nthunya’s mother who would present Rosary beads to her new daughter-in-law.


Champagne was opened, toasts were made, and the children continued to dance.



It had been raining off and on all day, but the skies finally opened up around 5:00, and we all went home. It was a wonderful wedding and a wonderful day. I wish them both lots of love and happiness.


And I also wish Kenny and Victoria a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I expect emails from both of you telling me how you celebrated your birthdays. Hope they're happy!