A Namibian Wedding (7-10)

Last week went as scheduled until Friday. Thursday morning Mrs. Reinhold came to class to hand out notes for learners to give their parents about Parents’ Day from 10-12 on Friday. This meant I would have only the first three of my four classes. Parents were invited to come to school to check their children’s notebooks. Not many came and, as is often typical, most parents who did come were those of the younger learners.

Friday morning my second class didn’t come, and I could see that no learners were going to class. When I asked about this, I learned that the sports competition venue had been changed to our school. (I had heard the announcement that the venue was changed and that something was happening at noon, but I hadn’t understood that the new venue was our school.) So learners had to draw the lines for the fields in the sand. Since Parents’ Day started at 10:00, they had to be in their homerooms by then, which meant that the fields had to be prepared earlier. So only one class on Friday.

During the second class time, a group of girls came to the room to hang out. After a while, they spontaneously burst into singing and dancing. The dancing is essentially a line dance in which they danced around the room in a line. Others came to join them. They liked that I was taking photos. It was fun. After about five minutes most of them left, but several stayed to look at photos on my camera. We looked at ones I’d taken of them dancing, and then they looked at all 800 photos from China, the U.S., South Africa, and Namibia. I was a little surprised that they were interested in seeing all of them. While they were huddled around me and the camera, a few took the opportunity to fondle my hair and skin.

The competition was to start at 12:00, but only one other school had arrived by then. It finally started at 1:00. The netball competition was here even though our girls had been eliminated. Watching the game, I learned a little more about the sport. Players wear vests with letters on them that announce their position. Each position has a given task and a designated place on the court, and the person can only do that task and cannot leave her designated place. No moving is allowed when you have the ball. Thus, when catching the ball, the girls usually have to turn in the air prior to landing so they can move forward, and they must land solidly. This is also the reason for lifting a leg when trying to make a basket. If both feet are on the ground, moving one, even to shift weight, is “stepping,” which is not allowed. So the danger of stepping is removed by lifting one foot. When trying for a basket, the ball is thrown with one hand.

We left school at 2:30 to go to town, which exceeded my interest in watching sports. Fortunately, I could read. In town, I did my shopping while Wilhelmina did things she needed to do to prepare for a wedding on Saturday. On the way back to Ompundja, we picked up her sister, who was also going to the wedding, and her five-month-old daughter. As with most foreign babies, she was fascinated with my different appearance when we were standing together later.

On Friday Wilhelmina invited me to go to a wedding with her. It was the wedding of her best friend’s son, who is also a relative of Kowmongwa’s; so he and Helena were also going. Wilhelmina went to the house Friday night to help with food preparation. Helena went Saturday morning. They seemed to have assigned shifts, as Bertha was helping Saturday afternoon. The church service was at 10:00; however, Wilhelmina called me to join her at school because it had been changed to around 12. On the way out of the homestead, I saw the biggest of Kowmongwa’s goats being loaded into a truck because the wedding hosts had purchased it. He told me it was very expensive, which is good for him.

Wilhelmina took me to the local market that happens when pensioners collect their money. She pointed out the place where that happens, which is away from the market. This is the market I went to with Kowmongwa last month, but not as many vendors were there. When I asked if it is always on the second Saturday, since that has happened for two months, she said it changes every month.

At 1:30 we went to the house of the wedding family. On the way we passed the church and saw that people were just arriving. I had planned to go to the church service to see how that is done here, but when I learned that it was almost two hours long, it was OK that I missed it. 

But I am still curious about the services since I saw what I think were bridesmaids dressed in bright green dresses.

The family’s homestead is huge. The first thing I noticed was a two-storey house, which I’d not seen in this area before. This belongs to the bride and groom although they live in Windhoek where they work. The traditional part of the homestead we were in has many buildings and is the largest I’ve seen. Most of the buildings are painted bright yellow. People were preparing food in several shelters and around the area. Wilhelmina told me that eighteen cows had been slaughtered for the occasion. Small groups of people were sitting in some shelters. We sat in a small courtyard for over an hour. After a while, a plate of beef was brought over.

Then we returned to school to pick up Teopaulina, who was joining us because she was riding with Wilhelmina. We changed into our dresses for the reception. Wilhelmina wore a traditional Owambo dress that she only wears to weddings, as it is customary to wear traditional dresses to weddings.

At 3:30 we stopped at the church where the service had just finished so I could see what was happening and take photos. 

Most people had left the church, and a photographer was taking photos. The bride wore a Western style white gown. 

Most women wore traditional dresses, but some had modern dresses. 

A cultural troupe danced and sang outside the door. A couple women waved horse tail wands, which Wilhelmina explained they do while ululating or to show their happiness silently. They were doing the latter. 

When the bride and groom came out, they held white umbrellas over their heads. 

The dancers lead a procession to their car, which was not decorated.

We then returned to the house and sat in the car for an hour waiting for the arrival of the bride and groom. They parked outside the homestead and walked in with a crowd of people leading and following, including many women waving their horsetail wands. Again they held the white umbrellas over their heads. 

They sat at a table in front of a banner about their wedding to receive gifts, mostly baskets but some had other things in them. 

People formed a line, and many women carried their baskets on their heads. 

I enjoyed seeing some of the women wearing the fancier traditional dresses with beads around their waists that I had seen only in displays.

Finally, at about 6:00 we went to a tent to eat. There were a number of tents set up for this purpose. The tent we entered was full—about 64 people at eight tables. We saw Mrs. Reinhold at a table that two people were leaving; so we joined her. Wilhelmina took the empty plates and washed them for us. Food was served buffet style. By this time, most of the trays were almost empty, but we managed to get a small spoonful of several foods—rice, macaroni, potato salad, carrots, squash, coleslaw, green salad. There was also a big pot of boiled beef. At the entrance there was a huge freezer with ice and bottles of drinks, mostly beer.

Mrs. Reinhold asked if weddings in the U.S. were like this. When I described how reception meals work, she said that here anyone can come to a wedding. That must make planning food challenging.

A stage was set up for a musical group. Since everything started so late, we missed that, which was OK. It was a good cultural experience to see how weddings are done in Namibia. And it was good to hang out with Wilhelmina—and Teopaulina and Bertha—casually.

We have three groups of chicks as well as a few more new goats. Wilhelmina said she has many chicks and has about 30 baby goats.