A Marriage in Kiffa

Douglas & Beverly Dale, Zeinabou & Cheikh Sow

are honored by your presence

as we celebrate the marriage of Leah and Mowdou

...and so read the invitation.

Leah Dale is the second-year volunteer in Kiffa. Over the past six-some months, due to the constraints of space and time, I have spent countless hours together with her, enough to fill days and weeks and maybe even months – and so consequently, we are now friends. Sometime last year, before my time in Mauritania, Leah found herself in the presence of Mowdou, a young Mauritanian Pular man with a slight resemblance to Usher, the singer, and fell madly in love with him soon thereafter.

A few months ago, Mowdou proposed to Leah at the nearby abandoned airport, at nighttime. The stars blanketed the sky and city lights showed off in the distance. She took the ring – upon which were engraved the words la fleur de mon cœur – with tears in her eyes and a smile upon her face, I imagine.

The wedding, a two-day affair, took place this past weekend in March. The schedule was as follows –

Friday evening, March 2^nd – Bachelor/bachelorette party {chez Maggie}

Saturday evening, March 3^rd – Dinner and wedding vows {chez moi}

Sunday, all day, March 4^th – Traditional Pular wedding {chez Mowdou}

Here are some highlights, in no particular order or in any great detail, from the happenings of that weekend.

Thursday/Friday/Saturday: Some 30 to 40 volunteers arrive into Kiffa. They are quickly put to work helping with meals, decorating and running various errands.

Friday: Leah gets smashed and chain-smokes. I am talked into doing a strip dance for the bride. I convince a friend to strip alongside me – such that to lessen any attention I would otherwise attract. We both strip sober. I go down only to my short-shorts and wife-beaters. Never again, I promise myself.

Saturday: I spend the day decorating my rooftop, cleaning my house and aimlessly running around town. Ginger, a fellow volunteer from Kankossa, takes charge of cooking and, amazingly, manages to create a feast for the evening. Brook, a volunteer from Aioun, bakes the wedding cakes – themed black and white, as chosen by the bride. Dinner is served at 5 in the afternoon. Vows take place on the rooftop at sunset. It is very windy and I fear that something – or worse someone – will catch on fire from one of the many candles we have used in creating an “atmosphere”. Luckily, no fires take place. [We do have buckets of water ready though, just in case…seriously.] Vows are followed by cake cutting and later, by Leah and Mowdou’s first dance. Leah is still ill from the night before, suffering from a possible case of nicotine poisoning. At ten o’clock, members from Mowdou’s family numbering in the fifties or so, crash the party and steal Leah away, as is tradition. With the bride gone, the party ends, and I soon retire to my mattress.

Sunday: Traditional weddings are, well, rather dull. People sit under tents. They chat, stare blankly or if nothing else, sleep. Some people help cook meals. There is some dancing and merrymaking but not much. I am thoroughly disappointed. Leah spends the day getting hennaed and braided in a small crowded room. Once properly groomed and dressed, she makes her grand entrance under the tent sometime in the late afternoon. We are served lunch and then dinner, after which the wedding, as far as I can tell, is over. I go back home and sleep.

Next Time on Adventures in Puddles: How to lose 30 lbs in 30 days! Secret dieting techniques from Mauritania!