Wedding Lamu Style

This month I had the pleasure of attending a Swahili wedding ceremony at the Lamu Fort.  This was a really interesting experience, because the portion of the Swahili wedding tradition that I saw was so different from a U.S.- style wedding. 

Swahili marriages are strongly steeped in tradition and interestingly, very gender-segregated.  In Muslim ceremonies, the woman does not even attend the official “wedding” in the mosque.  Instead, her father or brother represent her and sign the marriage certificate.  The portion that I attended was the biggest party of the whole event, and it is only for ladies. 

Prior to the women’s event, a bride is prepared by (traditionally) staying indoors for several weeks before the wedding.  There she is given many beauty treatments by women in her family, and finally painted all over with intricate henna and piko.  The resulting designs on her arms and legs are beautiful and take hours.  Originally, only the bride would be painted for a ceremony, but now it is custom for anyone attending the wedding to be painted in celebration. 

The wedding was a really interesting and confusing experience for me.  We entered the huge, open air fort in the center of town, and even though we essentially remained outside, there was an air of privacy and intimacy inside.  I was dabbed with perfumed oil and had incense wafted in my direction as I walked in, and the whole place smelled like jasmine and incense.  There was a large mirror by the door where women stopped to remove their black buibuis and reveal the amazing rainbows of chiffon and silk they had hidden underneath.  There were simple dresses and elaborate ones with tons of embellishment and long trains, but they were all very colorful.

 

We all sat on chairs and mats in the huge hall while a young girls’ choir sang saccharine Taarab music while seated on the floor facing a large structure made of jasmine buds.  Sometimes women would join to sing and dance around them while waving folded 1000 shilling notes in one hand.  After the song all the money would be thrown into the jasmine centerpiece.  Women also fashioned hats and neckpieces out of folded cash and placed them on important members of the party seated nearest to the choir.  An elderly woman who must have been the bride’s grandmother was so festooned with money accessories that she must have had the equivalent of about 2000 USD on her person. 

I was a little confused during all of this, because there was no bride.  It was also getting late (around 10 pm) on a Sunday and the bride had not appeared yet, so I was concerned.  How long would this ceremony take?  Finally, everyone turned and faced the back of the hall, and the bride moved slowly down the aisle, severely impaired by her huge dress and the many flowers attached to her.  I was watching her move slowly down the aisle when suddenly everyone moved towards the exits and filed out.  The bride wasn’t even on the stage yet!  Apparently, once the bride appears, the rest of the evening is meant for family only.  Not being family, I returned home and ate the lunch box I had been given.  It was a very interesting event and I hope I am invited to another! 

What to Wear

(Now, before someone calls out something like “cultural appropriation!” I want to point out that the times I wear a scarf or a buibui, it is out of respect for culture here.  It is expected that I will wear these things if I go to a wedding or other event, and appreciated otherwise.  I am not parading as a Muslim because while these items are associated with Islam, they are not reserved for Muslim women.  They have become an important part of the culture here and are used by all kinds of women.)

 

I wear a lot of the clothes I like to wear normally here, but I have to make modifications to be modest.  It is expected that I will cover my legs, chest, and shoulders, not just to be respectful but to keep me comfortable.  I already get a ton of attention being an outsider with assumedly bulging pockets, so I don’t want to get any extra attention for flashy shoulders or something.

I usually wear loose flowing pants or a long skirt with a tank top and wrap or a jumpsuit or dress with a wrap.  I learned pretty quickly that some of the clothes I brought are not ideal.  My amazing printed cotton pants all drag on the ground... and here that means they are dragging in dirt, sand, trash, donkey crap... etc.  I still wear them, but a lot less than I intended because they get dirty fast.  Keeping the layers to a minimum is also important because it is 3-showers-a-day hot and humid here.  It is so hot that if the power goes out at night an my fan turns off, I will wake up as fast as if an alarm was going off.  It is so hot that a semi-sheer shirt with a tank top underneath is not as option.  Everything must be capable of making me presentable without base layers.  I like super sheer scarves to cover my shoulders because I can rearrange them to create various air conditioning openings throughout the day (and they are pretty cute).  I always said I would never become one of those “accessorizes-with-scarves” people, yet here I am.  Here I am people.   Enjoy some fashion shots of my fashion and pack your suitcases accordingly.  This blog post is an excuse to put many pictures of myself on the internet.

Souvenirs and Treasures

One of the most fun things about traveling is the ability to bring home some amazing and unique treasures to help you remember your trip.  Although I am working hard to save money this time around, I could not help but to pick up a few things to bring home.  The way I see it, if I slowly buy souvenirs and gifts during the duration of my stay rather than picking them all up at the end, I will do a better job of budgeting.  Here is a sample of the treasures I have purchased and been given this time around:

1.  Swahili Coffee Pot

2. Local Coffee Cups

3. Dera/Diras: These are perfect muumuus for staying cool at home because it can be frighteningly hot here.

4. Khangas/Lesos (of course):  These are super functional as well as a cheap and beautiful souvenir

I don't get to keep the bed :(

5.  Kikoy Robe:  I have wanted a robe made of kikoys for a long time.

6.  “Collectible” match boxes: Is this a souvenir? I like how they look.

7. Not really souvenirs exactly but check out these great mugs I got:

8. Candle holders

9.  I have also collected lots of seashells and coral:

10.  A pretty jewelry box

11. Ring and earrings:

That’s all for now, folks.  See how I have controlled myself?  I cannot believe it either. 

Swahili Eats and Treats

All ready to eat! There might be sambusas there!

As some of you may know, I was not always impressed with daily fare in Nairobi--sukuma and ugali and dried beef, oh my!  Coastal Swahili food is a little different, and I love it!  Here is a short list of some of my favorites (all sic) (even though I’m the original writer) (I’m not going to edit myself ok):

1. Sambusas:  These are your typical samosa, but they are available everywhere, and on the cheap (about 10 cents a pop).  Fried little pockets of meat and onion filled glory just waiting for a dip in some pilipili.  If you know about my pocket food theory, you will be glad to know I've found my pocket food here.

2. Mkate wa sinia (rice bread):  This stuff is spongy, not too sweet, vaguely spicy.  Perfect to eat with some tea as a snack.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jV-ynJir0bw/hqdefault.jpg

3. Ukwaju juice and smoothies (tamarind): I have discovered a world of tamarind beyond spicy Mexican candy.  Tamarind juice flavored with a little lime will instantly make you forget about the sweltering heat and humidity.

4. Bhajia: Fried potato onion veggie bites.  Swahili hashbrowns. 

"heyyyyyyy"

5. These little cardamom donut balls: What are they?  I do not know.  They are sold three for ten cents along my walk to and from work.  They are just like glazed donut holes with a hint of tasty cardamom.

6. Tandoori: Indian flatbread, made fresh for every meal.

7. Grilled fish:  No one does fresh fish with coconut milk sauce like S.  Flaky meat and spicy skin.  Gotta eat it with your hands.

8. Chai: That means tea guys.  It is literally all the word means. Tea. But Kenyans do it differently.  Ginger, milk, sugar, cloves... it is to die for.

9. Podine: This is pretty much exactly flan but it is fantastic.

10.  COMING SOON: Mango season!

Nairobi Nibbles

Two weekends ago I visited Sonia in Nairobi.  It was cool to see my friend, blah blah blah.

Here is a list of the food I ate.

Charcuterie platter

Iced coffee with coconut syrup

Sparkling water

Lindt bar

Vanilla ice cream with chocolate dip and oreos

Chicken barbecue bacon pizaa

Leftover charcuterie platter as breakfast

French pressed coffee

Prawns tempura sushi rolls

Glazed pork belly

Feta and Coriander Samosas

Butternut squash ravioli

Spicy prawns

Ginger turmeric lemonade

Pancakes

Omelette with ham and cheese

Beef pineapple stir fry

Nachos

Croquettes

Onion rings

English Breakfast

Rosemary Chicken

Airport samosas

Takwa Ruins

Boat to Manda

A few weeks ago, I took a day trip to visit Takwa ruins on neighboring Manda Island.   The ruins are fairly well preserved, and you can even see the beautiful original tiles in the foot baths outside of what remains of the large mosque inside the city walls.  The city was abandoned when the wells turned salty and the inhabitants faced attacks from the people of Pate island.  They abandoned the settlement and moved across to Shela village, where they remain today (though Shela is now about 30 percent immigrants, another story for another day).  I didn’t take too many pictures because, well, ruins sort of don’t photograph too well. 

Big Baobab

On the way back we cooked fish in the boat and then escaped a rainstorm to eat in the once-popular but still very cool floating bar between Lamu and Shela.  It was a lovely day!

Miss Tanga

Tangawizi F. Baby

There is a new kitten in my life.

Now before I get started, I want to be clear as glass: I am not a serial cat collector and deserter.  I did rescue a kitty that I found in Nairobi, but I just kept her at home long enough to get her cleaned up and healthy before I found her a new forever home.  Now here I am in Lamu, with another little kitty on my hands.  This one I was much more proactive about taking in, but she was in a similar situation, one of too many kittens who was facing life on the street.  I took her in, cleaned her up, de-wormed her, etc, and now I consider her my foster kitty.  I think I have found a good forever home for her but for now she is staying with me as a companion.  We take care of each other!

Meet Tanga, full name Tangawizi.  Tangawizi means ginger in Swahili, and she is a little ginger kitten, so I thought the name was perfect.  She is growing fast and getting chubby very quickly.  She is very active and gets the run of my entire apartment building as she has made quick friends with every neighbor.  She is very energetic and will tear up and down the stairs all night while I am cooking dinner, then return just in time to beg for some fish or meat.  She has been known to climb a mosquito net and hang like a bat from the inside, and her favorite spot is her personal mini balcony outside the back of my room.  She is a perfect little ball of trouble.