Today I was invited to TJ's (not his real name) wedding in Sunyani, the capital of the Ashanti region of Ghana. Am I friends with TJ? No, we just met last week...honestly he annoys me. Why did I go to the wedding? Because he wanted light skinned people there as a status symbol. How does it feel to be the only foreigner in a wedding where you don't speak the language?...about a 10 out of 10 on the awkward scale (10 being the highest).
It started with a bus ride in a mini-van going close to what felt like 100mph without good brakes. The van sat 14 people comfortably, so the 21 of us in there were crammed. At some points on the road it felt like a roller coaster ride...except for its not as exhilarating thinking of what would happen if the car you were in did flip upside down...I think from now on I'll stick to Six Flags in the states.
Scary drive aside, the wedding pushed me far outside my comfort zone. The ceremony started with speaking in tongues and dancing...then went on and on from there...I almost fell asleep so I'm fuzzy on details. It ended, and we took the roller coaster van into a village where we were given water and food. Never any alcohol...the bride and groom never danced (or smiled)...when we got our food we didn't stay to eat it...we left! I thought there would be more dancing! Sigh.
Throughout the service and the wedding I must have been in 100+ pictures. I'm told it will be a point of pride for the family to share them and be able to say a white person was there...it was certainly unforgettable.
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