Goin’ to the Chapel

Today I went to a wedding to help Angie, Marian, Melinda, and a couple of other ladies (I’ll be writing more on these incredible ladies soon) serve food.  It was a really interesting experience…and a lot of hard work!  A lot of the things were similar to receptions at home (they were married in the chapel of the stake center, and then the reception was held in the cultural hall…and since we were setting up we didn’t get to see the wedding), but I noticed a couple of big differences that helped me understand this new place a little better (everyday I feel like I learn a little something more…but I’m still so far from understanding!).

The head table and cake table

First, I noticed how simple the room

The centerpieces

was.  The head table was decorated beautifully, but other than that, there were a couple of balloons at the cake table and plates of saran-wrapped nuts on the tables.  The plates and utensils were not paper, even though that’s what I normally see at cultural hall receptions.  As we were cleaning up the food, not a thing was thrown out.  There were some scraps at the bottom of a pan, and Angie took a used piece of saran-wrap to wrap it up to take home (I think the leftovers may have been given to the boarders).  We just have developed some traditions of excess and waster in America that are really silly.  We throw out so much, whether it’s money used on frivolous things, or gobs of paper towels to simply dry our hands.  I am constantly learning ways that I can be a better steward of this earth and the things I’ve been blessed with when I get home.

The food table from one end

Second, as I was serving the food, I think two people said “thank you” out of all 200 or more guests.  And I had noticed that people often don’t say “please” when asking someone to do something for them.  I don’t think this is because they’re rude or impolite…in fact in a lot of ways they are extremely polite.  So many they just don’t put a lot of importance on those words.  Or maybe I got to glimpse what it’s like to be on the bottom.  By this I mean, hierarchically.  It seems to be a very hierarchical society.  I think that’s why pedestrians give way to bikers give way to cars (and little cars give way to big cars).  I think that’s why children submit to adults.  I think that’s why the person serving or doing the “menial” work (the security guard opening the gate at the school, the cafeteria lady getting soap to clean the dishes, the teacher’s assistant coming and asking for medicine for the teacher) is often treated without the respect they deserve.

But yeah…overall it was a lot of fun! = )  There wasn’t a dance = (…but there was awesome African music the whole time with really great beats, and during clean-up I got some people dancing on video = )

The pretty kids at the wedding: Eddy,

Nana (and Papa = ),

and Papa.

This balloon kept him busy for like a hour! = )

One thing this wedding had in common with weddings at home...
the amount of food!

But the actual food options were different...haha = )

Food from the other end if the table -
Lyle...you would've loved it!  FOUR types of rice = )

The newlyweds and some of their friends.
They actually had a schedule on the program of when you were
supposed to go outside and take pictures (like the different wards,
different groups of friends, different family members, etc.).
I loved all of the hats! = )

It was so interesting!  When you don't have drinkable
tap water, you don't have ice.  So the way the beverages
worked was guys went around handing everyone a
bottled water, and then went around popping the caps
off of bottled Cokes or Malts for everyone.  Even the cake
was passed around (they were cut into bite-sized cubes and
put into large bowls and everyone who wanted grabbed one
or a couple).