On March 28, the day after the engagement ceremony, we went to the Wedding Blessing in Bosuso. Again, Patience came to escort us to the event. We walked down the main street to the area where taxis, Tros and busses stop and caught a taxi to the neighboring village. The blessing, by three different clergymen, took place in an Apostolic Church. We were given front row seats, so had an excellent view of the entire ceremony.
The ceremony itself was very much like an American church wedding: the bride is lead down the center aisle by her father and turned over to the groom and they exchange vows and rings. Again, I was able to understand very little of what was said, but because the various aspects of the ceremony were familiar, because some English words were used, and because I had Patience to explain to me what was going on, this ceremony was a little more like home. This is a picture of Mary, Richard, and Mary's father.
Aside from three different clergymen being involved in the ceremony, there were some other unique characteristics. The most remarkable was a series (three, I think it was) of people parading up to put money in a box for the bride and groom.
The people sing and dance throughout these offerings and other parts of the ceremony. The excitement generated by their energy and joy was really quite remarkable and at one point I felt absolutely dizzy. Of course it was hot and humid, but that couldn't account for my heart beating so wildly.
You can get a better sense of how exhilarating it all was by watching my video of the blessing ceremony on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlWr8C7s3cE.
The picture above is of Patience; Dorothy's Peace Corp counterpart, Osa; and our wonderful DeeDub, more commonly known in Ghana as Mama Dee. It was taken outside the church after the ceremony. by the way, it appears that sometimes you can click on the photographs to see an enlargement. I can't figure out why it doesn't always work.
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