Muslim Wedding

Over the weekend, I went to the wedding of Uncle Azad's niece.  It was interesting.  Very different from Hindu and Christian weddings.  For one, the bride and the groom are not in the same room as each other during the ceremony.  This wedding was held outside of the mosque underneath large tents.  Men and women sat in different sections, and for the lunch (the ceremony was at 10AM) men and women got food from different buffet tables.  The bride was upstairs during ceremony, and a few messengers went up and down relaying the messages, so we couldn't see her part of the ceremony.  First, both the bride and the groom had to renew their faith.  Then the groom presented his dowry to the bride for her approval (well, the messengers presented the bride with the dowry).  Once the bride accepted the gift and the gave her consent to marry the groom. the messengers came downstairs to repeat her answer.  Then the groom was asked to give his consent, and they were married!  Finally, the groom went up to bring the bride down and presented her to the guests.  The ceremony was followed by a buffet lunch, no dancing or booze included.  Below are some photos from the wedding:

The groom

Guests arriving

A prayer during the ceremony

Going up to get the bride's approval of the dowry and her consent to be married

Returning with her answer

The bride's father relayed her answer to everyone

Getting the groom's consent

The groom going upstairs to bring his bride down for the rest of the wedding

Meeting his bride

The couple sat in under the women's tent

The happy couple!

Uncle Azad with the bride (his niece) and the groom

Uncle Azad and his niece

Chris and Auntie Chavita (Uncle Azad's sister and the family we stayed with in Bartica) 

Uncle Azad and Auntie Sherry

Uncle Azad, me, and Auntie Sherry

In front of the mosque 

A Guyana Mall

Uncle Bully took me to one of the large malls in Georgetown.  It's 4 stories high and is just one large square.  These photos basically capture the entire mall.  Similar to the U.S., the mall is one of the hot spots for kids to go an hang out, so you can see that all of the railing are lined with people.  The local slang for hanging out is "liming", and the local slang for ladies or chicks is "birds".  So, I should say, "All a dem come fa lime, and dem bai a watch dem birds" (All of them came to hang out, and the boys are checking out the ladies). 

Mom's House!

Yesterday, I was able to visit the house my mother and her siblings grew up in.  It was really amazing!  Mom told me that I should look for the little painted ducks on the doors that were there when she was a girl.  They were still there!  The yard had less fruit trees and the house has been modified, but the ducks haven't left!  I took a ton of photos and couldn't choose which ones to upload, so I uploaded them all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat some turkey with extra gravy for me!  Love you! 

WOOT!!!!

Wireless internet and air conditioning?!  THIS is the life!

I finally made it to New Amsterdam yesterday evening, and I'm staying at Uncle Raymond's, one of my dad's close friends.  They own a large supermarket and are in the process of building a second.  They are very nice and have a lovely home.  My bedroom has an air conditioner, and I am finally able to connect to the internet using my laptop!  This is fantastic!  I should be able to upload photos at a faster rate!  I'm so excited, I may put off sleep to do it now!  Woot woot!

The view of New Amsterdam from Uncle Raymond's balcony!