the bride's big day

Our good friend Margaret got married this past weekend. Quite an all-day ceremony -- traditional drummers, dancers, hundreds of people, multiple preachers.

But the true cultural experience came a week ago at the Introduction Ceremony, where the men of the families sit across from each other and, well, barter for a couple of hours:

Groom's Family: "We need a woman from your family. Give us Margaret."

Bride's Family: "I'm sorry, Margaret is not here. You will have to find another woman."

(An hour later, after they'd agreed Margaret was in fact nearby)
Bride's Family: "You can not have Margaret because you are not a good family. You passed me on the road when my mother was sick and did not offer me a ride."

Groom's Family: "Ah, I remember that day and am very sorry, but I was taking a madman to the hospital!"

(This last joke, we didn't get at all. But apparently it was very funny. After that we stopped asking people to translate for us.)

Fortunately, they did settle on the number of cows to exchange. And the wedding did happen this past Saturday.

The pastor preached from Ephesians 5 and exhorted men that they need to love their wives like Christ loves the Church. Now I always thought this meant you had to be willing to give up your life for your wife, but the pastor gave some more practical examples:

• If your wife's cooking is bad, don't complain to her family about it. Instead, you should bring someone in to teach her how to cook.

• If you are getting fat, your wife should be getting fat, too. Feed her well.

Then the service culminated with a hug by the bride and groom. (A little different than Corrie and my 23-second kiss...)