Vlog 2, and Notes on Sudan

Hello, world.

Apologies for the delay in updates, but M and I have been deprived of a stable internet connection (and in some cases, electricity) for the past week, more or less since we arrived in Uganda. While there's lots to say about Uganda, let's baaack it up for a moment and recap our time and the wedding we attended in Sudan.

We arrived on the evening of the 26th, and after a reasonably confusing multi-step process to get our visas, we were greeted at the airport by Ira, one of M's closest friends from home. After they hugged and Ira gave me a polite tap on the shoulder - Sudan is ruled by Sharia law - we retired to the lovely German Guest House, our home for the next week. Many of the other guests arrived at some point in the middle of the night, and by the next morning, our happy group of 12 non-Sudanese (Ira's family and a handful of friends) were together.

For context, there are three parts to a Sudanese wedding: the religious marriage, the legal marriage, and the cultural marriage. The religious and legal portions of the marriage were taken care of last summer, and we had all been invited to the cultural marriage, which is the most wedding-y portion. The first event, the henna party, was the following day. All the females were shuttled to the home of one of the bride's relatives, leaving the men behind, since the henna party is the equivalent of a bachelorette bash. We ate, danced, met many members of the bride, Rihab's, family, and listened to three women sing traditional songs and drum. Several hours later, Rihab emerged looking gorgeous; she wore a traditional Sudanese toab, which looks much like a sari, and was covered in gold. 

Another hour or so later, Ira arrived with the men of our party in tow. Ira and Rihab danced together (Ira's go-to move involves snapping his raised right hand with a huge, goofy grin on his face) and then the henna part of the party began. Women generally receive a floral pattern on the back of the hand or top of the foot, where men usually get large circles on the palm of their hands, and sometimes stripes across their knuckles. M got the circles, and because he had to wait at least forty-five minutes for the clay to dry, he spent a lot of time looking like Fred Willard from 'A Mighty Wind' ("Wha happened?") and/or a beggar. 

Henna, brides bedecked in gold, and sari-like dresses are all things I previously associated exclusively with Indian weddings, but they're equally a part of the Sudanese tradition. Two days later, I was equally surprised to find that the actual wedding felt almost totally Western, with the bride wearing a white dress, the groom in a tuxedo, a cake cutting, DJ, etc. However, there are some very real ways that a Sudanese wedding is different than its American counterpart:

• The guest list generally tops out around 1,500 - 2,000 guests. Ira and Rihab wanted a more intimate affair, so they invited only 250. Side note: Videographers projecting a live feed of the bride and groom are mandatory because it's totally likely that you might never run across them during the reception.
• Typically, around 700 of the wedding guests will be family. Yes. Seven hundred. Do you even know 700 people? We didn't think so. Unless you're M, and you know 1,200 people, at least on Facebook. One of Rihab's many, many cousins was describing her relationship to another wedding guest to me, and she said, "Oh, she's my first and my second cousin." What? The nuclear-family-minded American simply can't wrap his/her head around it.
• In order to throw a party in Khartoum, you need to apply for a permit with the police. This way, they're aware of the time/location of everything going down in the capital, and can pop in at a moment's notice to bust partygoers for alcohol, indecent dress, etc. Unfortunately, 'indecent dress' remains undefined, so they can penalize you for whatever strikes their fancy.
• The permit specifies that all amplified sound has to shut down at 11 PM. Since wedding guests often don't show up until 9 PM or later, it makes for a brief reception. Time is also a pretty loose concept at weddings (and in Sudan in general) - most wedding events started an hour or two late, and guests arrived within a two hour window.
• Speaking of sound, Sudanese DJs like to turn the volume to 11. If you can hear the person speaking next to you, you are not at a Sudanese wedding.
• There's a robust blend of tradition and modernity. The bride and groom arrived in a VW Bug covered with flowers - pretty adorably modern - and were then led to the reception by a team of three traditional singers and three dancing women (see above). After the three drumming singers at the henna party wrapped up, a DJ started playing Drake and Beyonce.

Between the two events, the non-Sudanese wedding party took a trip to the desert four hours north of Khartoum to visit some pyramids from the kingdom of Meroe (see Video Log 1), and on New Year's Eve the whole group took a sunset cruise on the Nile. While we were meant to depart for Kampala at 2 AM on January 2, our flight ended up being canceled, and we had a bonus day in Khartoum. Cue Video Log 2!

If you didn't gather from watching that video, M and I were at a roadside juice stand, and who should happen to roll up as we were filming but Ira and Rihab. Khartoum might be a big city (over 5 million people) but that night, it felt small. Next up, look forward to more news from Uganda, the Pearl of Africa.

Love,
S & M

P.S. Internet connection is too slow to load many pictures. We'll wait until we're at an internet cafe. Thanks for your patience!

Khartoum bridge at sunset

Our group at the pyramids of Meroe

One more Nile sunset