Indian Wedding Part 2

Okay, so I forgot to post the end product of the mendhi yesterday so here it is. 

It got really dark over night which is awesome!! 

Today was part 2 of the Indian Wedding. The engagement. When Romaana and I made it to the venue (we were a bit late...African time!). The ceremonies had already begun. Now this wedding is a traditional Hindu wedding so neither Romaana or I knew what was going on half the time. But it was cool to see. 

Holy crap, there were so many ceremonies. And they were all very specific. The first one we saw, the bride had to accept all the gifts from the grooms side. She was already decked out in so much jewelry and a beautiful sari. Then they added all the grooms gifted jewelry and took her away to change her into a gifted sari which represented her passing to the grooms family (I think). 

Then there was a ceremony with the bride and groom seated together. I don't know what that was about so I can't really explain it. 

During this entire time, Romaana and I were seated up close because she is besties with the bride and groom. We were laughing because in the wedding video everyone is going to ask why there is a dorky (white girl) and who is she. 

Afterwards, there was one last ceremony. The priest wrote down and checked all the astronomical dates to make sure that the wedding was right and officially started the engagement. 

And then finally there was dancing and pictures. Here is the funny faced one. 

Romana and I took selfies. 

And we took a full picture as well!

We had also gone to an Ismali funeral that morning. I've been to one before but a long time ago, so it was good to be reminded of what happens. It's not as depressing as most funerals. Just a lot of singing and praying. 

But anyway, Romaana, her friend Sophie (I hope I spelled that right!) and I went to Mamboz Shizzgrill for dinner tonight. Sooo good!! It was a perfect way to end the night. 

Indian Wedding Part 1

In case most of y'all don't know, the reason the title of my blog is Indian Wedding Part 1 is because Indian weddings last for a while. It isn't just a one day ceremony...these things can last over a week! 

I am attending a real Hindu Indian wedding this weekend and the ceremonies and get-togethers have already started. Today we went to the grooms side (Romaana, my cousin, is good friends with both the groom and bride) to get mendhi (for white people that means henna :p) done. 

Romaana and I left for the groom's sisters house and were greeted as soon as we got there. It was mostly close family who was there because the real mendhi party isn't until Friday. So then we chatted for a bit and Romaana introduced me to everyone. Automatically, everyone started calling me "Karishma" which is my name but with the letters out of order 😝

Then we were sent upstairs to the neighbors house for the mendhi. The lady, Badriya, said that mendhi was her passion. And she is amazing at it! 

And here is the final product!

Well, that was a lie. The final product is when I take off the paste, which I will take pictures of and post (probably in this one). 

There is me, Romaana and Anushka. She is such a cutie pie! She and I spent most of the time while we were waiting for our mendhi to dry, playing catch with a balloon. 

So adorable!! 

Anyway, I love my mendhi! It's is beautiful and Badriya is an amazing artist! Not only is she doing the grooms side, but also the brides side on Friday! 

National Exams

This week begins the almost month long session for the K.C.S.E. exams for the form 4s. I got to school today and the form 4s had just started their break in between the Kiswahili paper 1 and paper 2. Almost at once a huge rush of people swarmed into the library running to get Kiswahili books to flash study before going back to the testing room. I had at least ten people greet me at the same time in a rush to enter the library. After they went back to their room I saw something really interesting. Apparently these tests are very, very important and because of that they have national guards to make sure that the tests are not corrupted by teachers or fellow students. I saw one of the guards and she had a machine gun...sooo...guess these things are serious. Here is my creeper picture of her. 

I'll try and show the gun next time. But taking creeper pics is an art form! It takes time to get the perfect one hahaha. You can tell by her posture she is holding something heavy on her left side. Anyways, I saw Arnold again. He was allowed to come back to school grounds because the exam has to do with the nation and he paid the separate fee. And Dorcas brought her son again today. There's him and Zeina (Halima's daughter). 

They are so cute! This time, Junior wasn't afraid of me and we played peek-a-boo for a good while. And I forgot to say this in the last post but on Friday (which was my mom's birthday...Happy late birthday momma, I love you!) They had a prayer day for the students at school. All the parents came. There was both a pastor and an imam to conduct prayers for the students and the students received success cards which just wish them luck. Apparently, the more cards you get, the more popular you are. Also on Friday I convinced Halima to let me take a picture of her beautiful mendhi (henna) that she had. 

She even had some on her feet!

And I tried this drink called Krest Bitter Lemon...it's a soda and it tastes like a lemonade ginger ale. Except not very sweet. I actually enjoyed it! And on Thursday I watched a guy kill a chicken. That's a blunt way to put it but it wasn't a traumatic experience at all. He wa a Muslim and so the process for him to kill the chicken was very peaceful and clean. He said a prayer, slit the throat, said another prayer, slit another part of the throat and let the chicken die peacefully. I was kinda mesmerized by it. It was nothing like what I've seen in the states when it comes to killing meat. A much better process in my opinion. All the meat that comes to the school is halal which is great. Maybe from now on I should be like those annoying people who demand to know where the chicken they are eating is from and what it's name was, but instead of asking those questions I shall just demand for halal meat!