Wedding of Esther and Femi!

On Sept. 17, the day of Femi and Esther's wedding was finally here! Femi is the president's driver and we have been anticipating this day since our arrival.  We were excited to be part of a traditional Yuraba wedding.  Mark and I made a practice run to the location--Bamfort Hotel--on Friday with one of our PEF students as the guide so we would be able to make it on our own on Friday.  (To say the road is an adventure is a bit of an understatement--and only could be understood by someone who has been here. Another post will document our adventures on those roads.)

Here is the bride arriving at the hotel after the legal ceremony at the Registry Office

And here comes the groom

Here's a few of the guests--dressed in the wedding color of green--waiting for the ceremony to begin

The parents of the bride

 

 The groom and his friends must beg the bride's parents for her hand in marriage

Happily accepted into the family

Seated and waiting for the bride to arrive

And here comes the bride--modestly covered to enter

Dancing before the groom to "entice" him.  The women at the right with the gold hat is the "mouthpiece" who did most of the talking (in Yuraba) for both the bride's family and the groom's

The Happy Couple after presentation of the groom's required gifts and dowry

Celebrating together

With Femi's parents

Cutting the cake

A wonderful day to celebrate with our friends! Congratulations Esther and Femi--love, luck and laughter!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Last Friday Mark celebrated his one and only birthday here in Nigeria!  They certainly know how to celebrate here in the church office building.  Just before noon our small little office was filled with well wishers singing their version of "Happy Birthday to You".  What a wonderful day to celebrate with all our new friends!

 

Of course, to celebrate Mark wore his "Hausa" hat--one of the many tribes here in Nigeria.  He has a traditional outfit as well but we haven't taken pictures of that yet!

We topped off the day with brownies and ice cream in the Meier's apartment after a good American meal of KFC (yes, they have one here--within walking distance!) and pasta salad!

One Stop Shopping!

Just a little pic for all the ladies out there--here is how we do one stop shopping in Nigeria!  Just take a little walk down the street to the heart of the crowded market and in between the open meat shop and the "barbing salon" you find the perfect boutique--bras, purses and shoes!  What more can a girl ask?