Maggie au Niger: Tuareg wedding of the century rocks Niamey

Oyiwen/Greetings,

I did just post a way-too-long blog entry, but I couldn't resist writing again. Yesterday (Saturday) I went to the most AMAZING wedding, no offense to other cool weddings I have attended, but this was the probably the most ridiculously awesome wedding that I have ever attended, I have never experienced anything like it!

The first cool thing about the wedding was that the "jeune marie" is someone I know well, one of Habsou's sisters who works a lot at Tin Hinan, Habsou's women's NGO in Niamey, which I hang out at a bit when I'm in town. Her name is Ramatou. This was the first Nigerien wedding where I knew the bride well; I have been to lots of weddings but usually with friends, so I didn't necessarily know the bride and groom well.

On Friday night, my friend Alice and I went to visit Ramatou at Habsou's parent's house. Ramatou had just had her hands and feet covered in beautiful, intricate henna, but she was mad b/c she thought the design had too many "lines" in it, and apparently Nigerien dudes don't like that kind of henna much; maybe she just had some wedding-eve jitters. Alice and I watched a crew of ten women peel and chop potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and other veggies for a couple of hours (seriously). The quantities of food they were preparing were absurd, and one of the marmites was large enough to fit an ENTIRE SACK OF RICE THAT IS 50 KILOS! And Habsou said they were using the meat (and everything else, brains, etc.) from an entire cow for the occasion. Anyway it was impressive. People get stressed about weddings in the U.S. but often people have food catered for a wedding with 200 people, instead of cooking it themselves . . . not Nigeriens! We left the house after midnight; the women were still chopping and I don't think any of them got much sleep, considering that the fatia (religious ceremony) started at 8 am.

I didn't make it back to the house where the wedding was happening until 11 am (I had to visit some neighbors and have 3 rounds of tea with them, which takes a while), but when I arrived, the party was popping. Men were milling around outside the house, incense was billowing out of the big salon, women were still cooking, others were eating, babies were crying and laughing, toddlers were running, and somewhere in the back, some women were doing the traditional Tuareg wailing. And there was a mini concert with sweet Tuareg instruments (violins, little mandolins) going on the porch. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely (minus the crying babies), and it was just a great party. There were two old women who were literally hopping up and down as they encouraged a young man who was using a gigantic stick to pound millet in the giant-sized pot over a smoky open fire. I stuck around long enough to eat 2 meals and greet everyone I knew at the wedding, plus make some new friends. Then I had to go home to regroup and change outfits, because the women said I was dirty. If there is anytime an unmarried woman is supposed to look saucy in Niger, it is at a wedding! If the marriage is not an arranged one, I think the most likely place to meet your husband is at a wedding. This isn't a huge concern of mine, so I actually just went and bought a wedding present (colorful plastic platter, large metal bowl) and didn't shower and came back.

When I got back there were over a hundred people in the street (not paved, more like the desert, overrun with too much damn sand), spilling out of a large tent, rocking out to a loud Tuareg guitar concert. Ghaicha (Habsou's daughter) found me and dragged me first to say hi to Ramatou, who was still hiding in the bedroom (the bride can't come out until 9 pm or so, when the husband's family comes to take her to the groom's new house), and then she led me back to the concert and pushed me into the tent. Suddenly I was in the middle of a rocking dance party, mostly women wearing beautiful clothes plus some random kids and then men poking the head in. There were three electric guitarists, a drummer with a nice drum set, a fancy guy in a boubou and turban, and a bunch of amps. The musicians don't usually play together but got together for the wedding and they were amazing. I tried to take capture the mood with photos but it wasn't really possible. After an hour or so of dancing, yelling, clapping, etc., I emerged from the tent super sweaty and got a ride with a friend on someone's moto, through the deep sand to the main road, so of course we fell off once but ca va. The party wasn't even close to over when I left at 6 pm, but I was tired and wanted to go swimming.

The point is, I cannot believe how hardcore these Nigeriens were about partying it up at this wedding. It was a total blast for everyone but the hidden-away bride, who will hopefully get to watch the festivities on video later.

These kind of days are my favorite kind in Niger, the ones where I am doing something fun and ridiculous that I have never done before—shaking my tailfeather with Tuaregs of all ages while speaking Tamashek and holding a baby?—and then I think, what the heck am I doing? Is this actually happening? Then I feel really lucky to be here and get sad about the thought of leaving ;(

Hope all is well wherever you are, and that you have the chance to shake your booty ("bouge ta fes" en Francais) this weekend!

Here's a picture from the Tuareg wedding with my Tuareg moms, Habsou (left) and Fatima (right)...notice their matching wedding uniforms and the appliqued guinea fowl on the straps of my shirt: