A trip to Catel pt3

A trip to Catel episode VI:

The Return for a Wedding

Adramanè Djin-Àle and Janke Yhasse conjoined in holy matrimony, and the after party just so happened to take place in… Catel.

After four long years and much planning, Daniel (also known as Adras) and Janke finally had their wedding, and I was given the privilege of being a groomsman. First thing I should note as a contextual piece of information is that the weddings here are somewhat westernized, so as far as some parts of the service, you guys should easily follow a lot of parts.

But in order to start, we should start the day before the start of the festivities. It began weeks and weeks ago, as time began to grow closer, the preparation ramped up insanely. So it was only the very night before the wedding that we realized that 9 of the church kids didn’t have the funds to make it out to the village where the wedding was to take place. The same kids had school that afternoon, so they couldn’t go with the official car. This all means one simple thing: yet another early morning trip.

Weddings here begin at the courthouse, with friends and family gathering to all cram in and watch the civil wedding. After that, we all go outside for photos and then to embark in the cars to go to wherever the ‘mancida’ is taking place. A mancida is a party that begins that night and goes until morning. I believe it’s derived from the word manci, which translates to get up, rise up, or spend the night. So, mancida, I believe means well, I don’t know exactly, but it would be like if we had a party that was a word form of ‘until morning’. A mancida is the true beginning of a wedding and a sign as to if the wedding will be a good one or not. The Djin-Ale’s mancida was to take place in Apigu, the same town for the official ceremony. So, after the courthouse part, we were to all get in cars and go to Apigu (three hours away near Catel for those who didn’t read parts one and two) for the festivities to continue. There was one problem: the church members we, meaning my family, offered to pay transportation for had school that afternoon and could not go with the group, so I had volunteered to chaperone them. After the courthouse and the pictures and all the chaos that goes with a morning of a wedding, I finally made it home to prepare to leave around 3 AM. The work, however, was far from over because in the chaos of leaving, a quick cleaning was forgotten, so arriving at home, I was confronted with a mess which I cleaned. I then went around connecting with some of the people that were coming along with me that early morning. We talked about plans for the evening, which, to cut a long story short, ended with me not sleeping until 20 minutes before we were to wake up at 1:45 so we could be out the door at 2.

We did arrive in time for a practice of the dance for the groomsmen and bridesmaids. Much to my dismay, we switched our plans with only two hours before the service, which was to start at 11 a.m. I managed to practice and get showered and ready by 11:35. Right on time. From there, I hung out with Adras, the groom, until the service started on time at 1:00ish. While waiting, I was exhausted! There were so many little details that ended up making all this so much more tiring that I simply couldn’t include here because of the time it would take to write. Anyways, while sitting there doing my best not to nod off, a kind lady that I had just befriended peeled and sliced me two mango di faka, which is one of the tastiest mango types there is.

The service did start and it was incredibly beautiful, my favorite part was the blessing. The bride and groom kneel down and receive a prayer from the pastor which I found quite beautiful. Just so everyone knows I did do the dance that was required which ended up being different from both of the practiced ones.

I assumed I would dislike the dance but oddly enough I was just happy to show, through dance, my joy for my friends. After the service we went back to the house for lunch around 4. After eating it was off to the reception. For the reception I danced a lot. Presents were given and then we all after piled into cars and got to Catel for the second part of the party and supper around 9 pm. We finally got to the mission house around midnight, and I didn’t get to bed until 2 am.

Church was the next thing on the agenda. I woke up at 9 am and church was to start at 10 am. I once more arrived right on time at 10:40. After an amazing church service we went back to THE PARTY!! This part of the party is normally held a week after the wedding but to save money and for simplicities sake was held the day after. This day, though still exhausting, was a truly enjoyable time. Because the best man was busy that day I was invited to take his place so what that meant to me is I got to be closer to the newlyweds which truly is what made it more fun for me. I’ve been cutting out so so much fat or details in order to get the whole weekend into one blog but the dance party deserves a mention.

For a party normally you sit in the shade listening to music, eating, and drinking juice. But when the time to dance comes, which is spontaneous, we all come together in a shouting, pulsing throng, jumping to the music and forming a circle. As the circle is formed, different people either make their way, are pushed, or pulled by friends into the center to the rise of cheers and chants. Like a solo in a choir, they hit their best moves and get shoved, or make their way out. I loved it. I loved it to the point where I heard a song from across the way, apologized to Adras, who I was talking to, and said I need to go dance. I’m glad I did because one of the members went and got a mango branch. We were jumping and pounding to the music and began beating the ground or holding up the branches in the air. Shortly after that the brother of the groom, Jon, took the center for a competition with a friend Ambu. Jon, being the older guy wiped the floor with Ambu to the cheers of everyone involved.

For times sake I’ll do a jolting cut to 12 pm the next day. I had been trying to get a car for 9 hrs to take my people home. We finally got one and arrived in Bissau at 3 pm making a 150 km trip a 12 hour journey.

Now onto UPDATE: This is my last blog post from Africa for the spring/summer. I’m heading back to the states June 15th! I’m coming back for various reasons such as an expiring bank card, expiring drivers license and my sister’s wedding. But my time here is not yet finished. I will be moving back in November, not sure yet for how long but it will be more “official”. I am in the process of being a missionary under the agency EMM or Eastern Mennonite Missions.