A Zimbabwean wedding

Diana and Troy - during the cake ritual

The second wedding in my life and my first Zimbabwean wedding took place today at 11 o'clock - it was scheduled for 9am: That's African time and we thought that being half an hour late would suffice! So it was the wedding of one of Seppo's and Oili's children, Troy and now his lovely wife Diana. Even Bu, the sponosr of Troy came from Finnland. He has been the sponsor since his 1st grade 1997 till Troy graduated this year in Finance at the University of Chinhoyi.



                      

                                                   Bu enjoying the wedding

Anyway it was a beautiful African-English wedding ceremony. The procedures and program are similar to ours, but how it then actually happens is very amusing: The whole wedding was filled with laughter, music and dancing down the aisle, not to forget the very loud and fierce pastor. Very surprising were also all the shouts accompanying the ceremony, such as "Hallelujah", "Amen", and the more Native American sounding "Ririri", which all the Africans can do perfectly especially when compared to me. It is lovely how interactive, musical and also colourful the wedding was - he wedding took place in this beautiful venue outside between Dschungel plants and vividly coloured dresses.

                     Rituals at the wedding ceremony

Other funny rituals, I should mention, are the groom kneeling in front of the bride and then untying the green ribbon that stops the bride from stepping down the aisle. In addition, the bride and groom offer cake on their knees to their family-in-law and somehow that also included me. And probably the most funny was Troy's examination of Diana, whether this was actually Diana below the veil, without actually being allowed to unveil her. The guests were offering many good advises and it became a really funny disply of acting skills on Troy's side. Well, in the end it was her backside confirming her identity ;)

Otherwise we also enjoyed the show dances by the bridal team. It was definitely different to the formal and stiff way of dancing, which we adhere to. At least the word Rumba defines here a very different kid of Dance - jumping on your toes, shaking your ass and pretty much looking like a Native American doing the rain dance. In the end the bridal team even changed into rags to dance "Old School" to remind of the poorer origins of their families. Also very funny was the tradition to shoot the just-married couple with your hands while shouting Popopo.

I neither should forget to tell you about my new friend, the four month old Alvin. You know, in Zimbabwe you not only become friends in five minutes, but also the new babysitter for their child. So suddenly Alvin, the nephew of Troy, was sitting on my lap and as a good Zimbabwean tagging my hair. 

All in all, it was a beautiful wedding between two people, who truly seem to love each other. Moreover, it was a great display of the African spirit: It was a large family gathering and joining of two large families, it was fun and it was infectious -> The wonder happened and I was actually dancing along.

Dzikwa staff having a great time:

 Taka, Seppo, Satu, Levita, 

 Bu, Priscilla & Njaradzai