Weddings

My friend Paulo got married at the end of December. I was at the back of the church so I didn't get very many good pictures. The bishop came back from Arusha to preach. My neighbors Raymond and Flora stood up with Paulo and Paulina. If I understood correctly they took on the responsibility of mentoring Paulo and Paulina in their marriage and will be the mediators in any disagreements.
In January Tisho and I went to Leena's wedding reception in Dar es Salaam. We studied Kiswahili together at the Lutheran Junior Seminary. She and Mark had already gotten married in his family's village in Kenya on New Year's Eve, but they had a reception in Dar for all of us that were unable to travel to Kenya. The reception was a lot of fun. I was able to see a number of Finnish missionaries (Leena's from Finland) that I met at language school. The reception was very similar to receptions I've been to in the States. I did learn 2 interesting and fun Finnish wedding traditions. The first is that games are always a part of the reception. Erne and Hannah had us play various games throughout the reception just like they would play in Finland. Also during the cutting of the cake the bride and groom are supposed to fight to have his/her foot on top. If the bride wins, then she will be the 'powerful' one in the marriage. If the groom wins then he has the power. Leena won, but I'm not sure Mark knew he was supposed to step on her foot!