Our friend Pepe got married this last Saturday to this lovely woman named Joelle. Pepe told us about a year and half ago that he was planning to get married. First he had to earn the money to pay the dote (I am not sure about the spelling). A dote is the bride price that a respectful man will pay his future father-in-law for his bride. This meant working every job he could get. He became a chauffeur to several of us American women. If you have ever driven in Kinshasa you will understand why we wanted a chauffeur. He also was known as a great "go for" man. He knows his car parts and is good at searching around town to find what we need and learned how to shop for mondeles (white people) so we could send him out to get the big things like a 50 kg sack of flour or a case of chicken.. Another job he did was guard houses. He also wanted to prepare a home. If we had any dishes that we were finished with, he was happy to have them.
When there is a marriage in Congo, there are at least four different big events. There is the traditional wedding in which the groom pays the dote to his father-in-law and the family agreement is made. Then there is the legal civil wedding that is done at a local government office. After that there is the church wedding which is when the bride and groom say their vows in church. Then there is the reception. We were invited to the reception. We were told that the reception would begin at 9 p.m. We actually had a big event that evening and didn't get home until 9:20. By the time we got to the reception it was 10 p.m. and we arrived just as the wedding party arrived. Therefore, I was able to snap these pictures of the bridal party standing outside the reception room.
Since the bride and groom are usually an hour late, everyone was inside and ready to greet and cheer them on. The wedding party then parades and dances down the center to the main table. Oh, the guests bring whistles that are blown constantly, there is music blaring and there is also extra noise like sirens going off through the sound system.
Once the wedding party is in and set down, they are presented by the MC. Pepe's cousin and a good friend of mine, Christian, was the MC. Many comments were made about these two both being the babies of their families. They were presented along with a couple that have been assigned to mentor them through their first year of marriage.
Then the families and friends present gifts to the bride and groom. Each group is called forward and they parade through the building with their gifts. Most of the gifts are not wrapped and the givers love to flaunt what they are giving as they dance. They received everything from a foam mattress, to a chest freezer, to a coffee table, to plastic laundry baskets, to a small electric stove. Well we gave them an envelope with some money in it. Not quite as creative. We did "dance" or as Rod says, "Shuffle" for about two steps.
We were surprised when we got to the buffet of food before midnight, 11:30 p.m. There was chicken, beef, french fries and plenty of delicious food. Unfortunately we were rather worn out and not hungry so we chose to skip out on the food and go home for a good night sleep so we would be ready to teach Sunday School the next day.
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