Upon picking up the bride and groom's wedding garments from the dry cleaners in Mwanza, we returned to Geita just in time for the pre-wedding party. The first thing I did was sit down with the women and start making mandazi. Mandazi are a kind of pastry, most similar to a doughnut but drier and less sweet. My job was rolling and cutting, which is good, since I don't know exactly what goes in them so they might not have been up to Tanzanian wedding standards. They are cooked in giant pots over open flame. In the picture on the right you can see the finished product in the pot in the back--nicely browned.
Around 7:30, other guests started arriving and sat down in the chairs below, which are in the front yard of our landlords' house. Baylor had a blast running around the poles. The had just started to set down some of the food around 8:00. Our landlord's wife was still getting her hair done so we knew the actual party wouldn't get started for quite some time. Since my mandazi making duties were finished we decided to go ahead and leave around 8:30, before food and whatever else. We figured we had a full day ahead of us and the kids really needed to get to bed. Alicia said she could hear the music from her house until 4:30 in the morning. Crazy.
Wow!! Such a lovely post. I am very happy to arrange this awesome wedding. Loved the bridal gown and she looks beautiful. Few days ago my sister also got married at one of NYC wedding venues. Best wedding was arranged by wedding vendors that we hired for the day.
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