I arrived in Ilkiloret just before 10 am on Wednesday ready to teach. The first thing Rebeka said to me was, "Chief's celebration today, me cook."
"Really," I said.
I went to school to find Janet all dolled up in a pink suit.
"What's the celebration all about," I asked.
"My step-brother is getting married," Janet said.
"Do people normally get married in the middle of the day on a weekday?" I asked. (I was full of questions all afternoon.)
"They get married whenever," Janet said.
We had all of five students, one, Isaya, came about 5 minutes before the end of class. Come to find out he was just passing the time before he was due to preach at the wedding!
Janet and I went back to Rebeka's to eat lunch before the wedding. I wasn't told there was going to be a celebration. I had on a black and white skirt and a black tank top. I put on a belt so I could wear my camera case on my belt. Rebeka gave me one of the necklaces she made to wear. I put on a beach hat to shade me from the midday rays that are oven-like in Ilkiloret this time of year. As we were leaving, I grabbed a blue leso to put over my shoulder should I not find any shade. Rebeka immediately took it away from me and pulled out a red one and wrapped it Maasai-like around my shoulders. She took another look at me and grabbed another more Maasai-like necklace and put it over my neck. "Good," she said. "White Maasai!"
Then we walked over to Janet's father's (the chief's) compound and sat in plastic chairs under a tree while we waited for the bride to arrive. The wedding was supposed to start at noon. A pick-up truck with some branches stuck in the grill came up the path toward the compound in a cloud of dust just after 2:30 in the afternoon.
Some of the brides relatives (all male) climbed out of the back of the pickup. The chief climbed from the front seat. Seated between him and the photographer, who doubled as the driver, was the saddest most stoic bride I have ever seen in my life.
I asked Janet why she looked so sad. Janet said she had to leave her family and move to her husband's compound and Janet said, you are not supposed to look happy to do that.
The mayhem that followed was nothing short of hysterical. The bride and what I assume were her maids started to make their way inside the compound when one of the women flew out of the crowd of women who had gathered and went off, yelling and carrying on like the world was about to end. I took a few photos and then went to find Janet.
"What's going on," I asked.
Janet laughed,"The woman yelling wants to know why they haven't laid down leso's for the bride to walk on."
The "conversation" went on for 5 minutes. I shot a 3 minute movie of it. I'll add a link to the video soon.
Anyway, the bride and the wedding party go into the new husband's manyatta and his family gives her presents and she drinks milk from his families cows.
The crowd gathered under a tree and when the bridal party emerged from the manyatta they joined us in the shade for prayers and singing and then a small offering was taken, (I assume it was for the newlyweds).
After the prayers, the crowd was fed rice, potatoes, meat stew and chapati. I gave most of my food to Ezekiel as we had eaten a big lunch of meat and chapati and I wasn't the least bit hungry. Ezekiel is Rebeka's five-year-old son who has an uncanny ability of knowing when I'm likely to give him food. He appears at the exact moment when I can't put another bite in my mouth and then gives me a huge smile when I hand over my plate.
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