After our interesting time at the
henna party, where we learned so much, we attended the
Nzul on Wednesday evening.
Nzul is also known as the "bride's wedding." We were told the party started at 9 pm, but knowing how time is viewed in this country, we didn't arrive until 9:30, yet we were still too early. The bride didn't arrive until at least 10 and the party was still rocking when we left at 1:30 am.
The
nzul is quite similar to the actual wedding, but with fewer guests and few odd rituals. As is typical, there was a live band, a small ornately decorated stage with a couch for the bride and groom, and sweets abounding. This one happened to take place in the bride's backyard.
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| All dressed up in our traditional robes for the nzul! |
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| The bride dressed in traditional clothes on stage |
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| The beautiful bride and her sister |
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| We're slowly melting in the mid summer evening heat... |
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| The bride meets the groom and they walk in together... |
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| One of the bride's 3 gowns of the evening. Her attendants walked her onto the stage and around her several times with candles, then she stood in these heavy clothes while her future mother-in-law swayed her back and forth from behind. We're still trying to figure this one out exactly. |
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| Of course, there's always Arabic dancing! |
During the course of all these events, we were served fruit cocktails, several types of traditional sweets, and fried shrimp! It was a tasty, beautiful, albeit long evening.
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