Malagasy Wedding

Weddings are a special occasion that take lots of planning so that the couple can be surrounded by friends and family... and random vazahas (foreigners/white people).   Tahiri is one of the nurse anesthetist in the OR and his brother Njaka (who also works at the hospital) is getting married today. The custom for weddings and other special occasions here in Madagascar is to invite visitors to said events. Now in America I'm pretty sure most brides would turn into bridezilla if they were told to add an entire table to the reception to accommodate random visitors from another country. But here, apparently it's customary!

Food preparation began yesterday at the guest house and continued this morning. The hospital staff were in charge of the food and were cooking all kinds of meat and veggies and other delicious looking food out in the open on the big silver pots. Also FYI to the mission trip people who were staying in the guest house... we should've come this next week bc there wouldn't be any more geese to attack you/wake you up in the morning. That's bc we're apparently eating 16 of them at the reception tonight!!!

The wedding ceremony started at 12p so Megan and I spent the morning in the OR with Dr Harison to soak up every chance we get! We scrubbed in on an open cholecystectomy (gallstone was the size of a prune) and then also a c-section. It's interesting to see the surgeries we did laparoscopically in the US done open here. I'm starting to better understand the pros and cons to both!

The wedding ceremony was held at the big Lutheran church downtown. We met the 3 Norwegian nursing students at the church and had our own vazaha pew. The service started at noon, which means people were showing up from 11:45 until right before it was over. We showed up about 30min late with Domoina and her mom and no rude stares were thrown our way (mostly just confused glances on who we are).  The ceremony lasted a mere 2 hours and there was a lot of stand up/sit down and singing. The bride was absolutely beautiful and the church was decorated nicely. 

Malagasy weddings all have color themes and so whatever color the bride picks is what all the guests wear. The bride and her bridesmaids all wear white. This bride (Stella) chose a rainbow theme so we were able to wear any color and the church, car, and reception was decorated in rainbow colors. 

After the wedding, the bride and groom hop in their decorated car and everyone caravans behind them in a parade. We parade through grassy mall downtown where everyone hangs out and then also parade the newlyweds past their homes. Njaka grew up in Antsirabe so that was easy but Stella grew up in the next town so we drove an extra 20min to get to this other town. Scarlet made the comment about how did they meet bc it was a pretty far way to walk and most people stay in meet someone in their same village/town.

The reception was at a pavilion near the center of town and was decorated in rainbow colors! There was a live band, 4-course meal (including the geese...) and lots and lots of dancing! 

The surgeons and OR staff were there and they helped teach us the Malagasy dances including the Afindrafindrao (opening dance) where you dance with your partner behind you and shuffle around in a circle. There were lots of circle dances, line dances, and then just regular fun dancing! 

As expected our table was the vazahas plus Dr Harison, Domoina, Midera, and gma. Kamilla, Ingrid and Elise (the Norwegian nursing students) also had a blast and it was fun to be surrounded by 3 fellow blondes!