e is a legitimate phase in these kids' developments! But now, oh man, if you don't pick her up and give her lots of kisses she will pull at your clothes until you do! When you set her down after, she breaks into a HUGE grin and runs away with her little arms pumping.
I don't have the case history for Gabriella but I would assume she is about 2... ish? She is in the little toddler room where the girls go that have graduated from the nursery. Instead of just going to the boys' room to say goodnight, I've been trying to hit up some more rooms along the way, getting slobbery kisses from all the little sweethearts. Gabriella will run in circles around you, quite literally, until you pick her up and PUT her in bed! lol I can see that she's going to be a little heartbreaker with those big eyes and long eyelashes. She's pretty much adorable.
So today was the day. THE day. The day my friend Litton got married to my friend Suborna. Weddings over here in Bangladesh are so different just because of the different culture and different religions. Even though they are Christian, there is still a Hindu feel to some of the wedding ceremony. Like this morning, I woke up at 5:45 to get to the turmeric party. I got downstairs by 6:30 and there were already women grinding up the turmeric root (you can't run to Safeway and get the pre-ground stuff lol) on big stone slabs in front of the bright yellow stage.I was wearing my cheap purple seloar kamees in case I got any staining-yellow paste on it. When Rosemary saw me, she dragged me back upstairs and dressed me in a bright yellow shari with a cherry red blouse. I kinda felt like a mixture of a mustard and ketchup bottle lol. When I got downstairs, the women were fetching water in their ceremonious way, singing as they carried big pitchers of water. They met Litton at the entrance to the apartment building and walked behind as Litton's male relatives carried him to the turmeric stage. Apparently before you get married in Bangladesh, you are not allowed to anywhere. People just carry you. lol
Suborna was already sitting on the stage with her flower girls around her. Then one by one, people walk up, smear turmeric on the bride and groom's faces and splash water for good luck. Then with the leftover turmeric on their fingers, they smear it on the other guest's faces. If you can avoid it turning into a food fight it's actually pretty fun. I had some old pastors come up and gently dab turmeric on each of my cheeks. But then I also had the rambunctious ones run up and smear it ALL over my face. My poor eye.. My poor hair... But we all had a great time, spreading luck and turmeric to friends and family.
After a ton of pictures, I rushed upstairs to scrub the stuff off my face. There is a reason why we don't do turmeric parties in North America. I am white. Turmeric is yellow and stains. You do the math. I scrubbed the big pieces off with a loofa, washed the skin with my face wash, and then tried to scrub it off again with a Clean&Clear makeup remover cloth. It took the bulk of the yellow off but, after looking back on my pictures from the wedding, I think I still had a yellow tinge to my skin.
Wedding time. I quickly wrote out the words to "The Rose" and ran downstairs to coordinate the wedding music. It was supposed to start at 11am but since it's a wedding, a BENGALI wedding at that, it didn't start until almost 11:30. Thus, I played "I will be here" by Steven Curtis Chapman about ten times, all the while imaging my own wedding day and remembering my mom sing this song.
The wedding ran smoothly, slightly formal by Bengali opinion but still really nice. I belted out some Bette Midler and thought back to my Auntie Mel singing it at her wedding reception. I like weddings. I could choose to see them as depressing, but I see hope in them. These people found real, long-lasting and unfailing love--so can I. When God shows me it's right, I'll be wearing that white dress and listening to my family sing me many a song!
There was a sermon, vows were exchanged (all in Bangla of course), lighting of the unity candle, and kneeling on white satin pillows for prayer. The whole thing took about an hour but then, as it was winding down, it came time for the kiss-the-bride part. In Bengali culture, couples barely hold hands, let alone kiss in public, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was sweet though--Litton reached in and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek :)
After the wedding, we took more pictures and I wrote out the words to the other two songs I was asked to sing. The receptions are soooo different than Western receptions. People sat, ate, left. Litton and Suborna sat on a platform at the front and when people brought forward gifts, they had to take a sip of a milky liquid and eat a concentrated sugary crystal. While the Bengali's feasted on chicken curry and rice, Shati made us rice palau (sooo good), fried pumpkin and potatoe curry. I ate too much, more than my tight shari would allow and I'm pretty sure I still have a line in my side where my petticoat dug in. (Just checked and it's not there... but nonetheless, it was still REALLY tight).
I was asked to sing while everyone was eating and I did... But people were still talking loudly and no one was really paying attention to me--another difference from Western receptions. There were no clinking of glasses, no funny jokes or stories, no dancing. Eat and leave. Granted it was so hot outside, which was amplified by the four meters of thick cotton wrapped around me, but still. I want my wedding party to go late into the night, celebrating and laughing with friends and family. It's going to be pretty fun I'm hoping.
anyways, so that was my day. Bengali wedding. I can check that off my bucket list. It's Ryan's last full day tomorrow at Bangla Hope so we are going to have some fun, play some badminton, and hopefully finish at least ONE of the projects that we set out to do lol. It should be fun. I'm exhausted from all the sleep I HAVEN'T been getting so I'm off to bed to soak in some wonderful Sabbath rest. Have a wonderful Friday,
ami tomake bhalobashi
loved this entry! =) it sounded like a fun day.
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