Weddings and Worship

Feb 2, 3

Yesterday we went to a wedding. It was of the couple whose kaski we were at last week. The trouble was none of us actually really wanted to go but we couldn’t get ourselves out of it. Part of the problem was that we hadn’t come to Africa expecting to go to weddings and really did not have the right attire for it. There was much discussion whether it would be better to go in our best casual wear or to go dressed up in the Bugandan traditional wear. Vennie insisted that only close family relations would be dressed in Bugandan dress. Everyone else would be in western clothes. So what were we to do? We kept getting conflicting stories and by the time it was ready to get dressed we were all confused and of different opinions and I knew that I’d feel dumb no matter how I went dressed. We ended up changing our minds again half way through the getting dressed process and ended up in traditional wear. Fortunately Vennie’s prediction was incorrect and there were many other guests in traditional wear. Of course, as always being in their traditional wear was a big hit with the guests. We’re considered very smart. The wedding was a high society wedding with 750 guests and fancy flowers and table decorations and appearances by famous Ugandan pop singers (Juliana Kanyomozi ) and blinking lights and schmaltzy love songs, bubbles and sparklers and champagne bottles spewing out their drink. The couple and the wedding party changed their outfits twice…which makes no sense to me because if you’re going to spend all that money on what you think is a beautiful wedding dress, that you’re presumably only going to wear once, why change into something else? And then twice? And I was right, I felt dumb no matter what. The paparazzi and the videographers with their bright lights didn’t help either. The only thing that was of some interest was the Ndere dance troupe. Apparently they also perform for dignitaries when they arrive at the airport. They played their traditional instruments and were dressed in tribal wear and the dancers were very skilled. Especially impressive were the girls who danced with clay pots on their heads, always adding one more. They ended up with 6 or 7 pots stacked onto their head while keeping their bodies in constant dance motion! One of the instruments was a huge gourd cut in half which was being whacked with a stick. There were a couple of them and they added an extra sharp rhythm to the mix. Later when the guests began dancing to pop music, we silly bzungus were also pulled up to the dance floor. We were ooed and ahhed over, even the top Ugandan female vocalist of the year sang to us and danced with us and just as predicted I spent the evening feeling dumb. We were all glad when it was finally time to go home and happy to have survived the insanely bumpy roads to get back to our little peaceful enclave. Mr. Lubega’s quote for the day, “That is how life moves.”


Today we went to worship at the Masooli Church of Uganda. We were dressed in bsutis again (which are more accurately called gomez) and sat as guests right at the front of the church. They were most welcoming and happy to see us. The service was fairly long and all in Luganda but Millie and Vennie and later Catherine joined us and translated for us. A choir member brought us hymn books to sing from and we did. I think we did pretty well reading the Luganda. The music didn’t have notes but was written in solfege instead. The harmonies were beautiful. They sang well in 4 parts and many of the hymns and songs were a cappella. It was funny to sing a Bach tune in an African language! And the final hymn was to the tune of “Müde bin ich geh zur Ruh.” (a German bedtime song) Lawinter was there and came and sat with us for a short while before going back to Sunday School. The leader of laity welcomed us during announcement time and asked who Namoli was so I put up my hand and then ended up having to speak in front of the congregation. I did well having been caught off guard thanking them for their warm welcome in their community and hospitality and graciousness. After I sat down again I thought of a bunch of other things I could have said. Kristine was asked to speak later as well and said all the things that I had thought of too. She was great especially in the heat. It was very hot today. It got us a little wilted and feeling low. And then on top of it we were dressed in gomezes. It made me wonder how they invented such a dress in such a hot climate. There’s a heavy cloth under skirt and the material of the dress is synthetic and it’s long, full length with lots of cloth. The reading and the sermon were all about Love is patient, Love is kind. God is Love. When you have Love you are with God. It’s good to love each other. Blah, blah, blah!