UgandAshis 62 A wedding reception

UgandAshis 62 A wedding reception

Kampala, October 16, 2009

Yesterday I spent a greater part of the afternoon in a state of confusion. It does not help if you are invited to a wedding reception and you are the only person present who does not understand the spoken languages; Muyankole and Muganda. Yet in way weddings are the same all over the world. Two families that are beaming with pride over their relative his/her joy. Colleagues that happily gather to watch the feast, food and dance unfold.

As many of the Ugandans this couple is Christian and the groom’s side is saved (by Jesus). Hundreds of people gathered in a hotel called Mulvin in Matete (the neighborhood close to Buganda heartland and near the place the police station was burned only 2 months ago).

Being invited by the bride’s family we were placed near to the very extended family of the bride. Again it is remarkable to see how the rituals and symbolisms of Western marriage blend in with Ugandan tradition. We had the proud relatives who speech until most people in the audience have fallen asleep, the aunt that leads the crowd on to the dance floor, the introduction of the families to one and other; takes a while considering Ugandan families have 6.9 children on average and the older generations up to 14 or even more children.

The Buganda people dance while gyrating their bums in a fast rhythm lead by xylophone and drums in abundance as their backs are covered in feathers of chicken to accentuate the shaking. The previous ceremony had been in Mbarara where they tend to dance with their arms in the air and with nimble steps.

The most touching speech in my mind came from a Muyankole man who in his early 60’s had never visited Kampala. To him it equaled a visit to London or New York. The world of people can indeed be in a radius of 50 or 100 kilometer.

Food at a Buganda wedding consists of brown and white rice, yam, sweet potato, Irish potato, pumpkin, chicken, fish, g nut sauce, vegetables, spinach, watermelon, pineapple and more.

What I noticed about the ceremony is that the format was very formal and that the master of ceremony had a hard time keeping time. Then again what is time in this setting? It is much more important to have the linked families have opportunities to get to know each other.

In the tradition of the Buganda a woman greets her husband on her knees on the floor and given that the bride is from another people (Muyankole) it was a first for her. Feeding her husband cake and letting him drink from a cup in her hands.
The groom was sent to the bride’s side to serve the cake and it ended being the treat of the reception as I managed to get hold of the icing of the cake and savored it then left missing out on likely the biggest dance party.

Namaskar,

Ashis