We have been building some really tight relationships with some of our students here, so we are creating a really awesome group of friends. Being able to casually hang out like normal teenagers has made a huge difference in our time being spent here. Our friends our inviting us out places and we even got invited to one of their cousin's wedding!
It was a huge culture shock, we had no idea what to expect and what we witnessed was nothing like any kind of wedding we were used to. So very briefly, the wedding is a two day event: the first night is only the groom and his family celebrating. (Celebrating is eating a huge dinner and then dancing traditional dances along with live traditional music from 8 p.m. to anywhere until 4 a.m.) The next day, the groom and his family will take several decorated cars to the bride's village and bring her back to the groom's home which is her new home. (Here, when you get married you live with the groom's family.) There they have a few ceremonies that no one could really explain what they meant, except one where the bride and her mother in law had to "bless" the front door before she entered her new home. Then the new couple meets both sides of the family at a restaurant/hotel to eat and dance even more. I really appreciated the experience and getting to see a side of the culture I hadn't been able to witness before. But I really loved spending some quality time with some beautiful girls who have been such a blessing to get closer to.
P.S. We have started taking Albanian lessons from some of our students, and it might be the hardest language ever. There are 36 letters, 4 of which are impossible for me to pronounce, and apparently there are 6 million grammatical rules. So wish us luck, we really do want to learn more so that we can adapt further into the lifestyle here!
Pray for us to have joyful and uplifted spirits. The realities of the real "grown up" world are beginning to bog us down considerably.
Here are some pictures from the wedding!
My roommates and I with our precious friends
This is a traditional dance--you also see several people wearing traditional outfits
Here is the bride (they wear soooo much makeup!) and the groom behind her
And these are some men playing traditional instruments as live music to celebrate the bride's entrance
It was a huge culture shock, we had no idea what to expect and what we witnessed was nothing like any kind of wedding we were used to. So very briefly, the wedding is a two day event: the first night is only the groom and his family celebrating. (Celebrating is eating a huge dinner and then dancing traditional dances along with live traditional music from 8 p.m. to anywhere until 4 a.m.) The next day, the groom and his family will take several decorated cars to the bride's village and bring her back to the groom's home which is her new home. (Here, when you get married you live with the groom's family.) There they have a few ceremonies that no one could really explain what they meant, except one where the bride and her mother in law had to "bless" the front door before she entered her new home. Then the new couple meets both sides of the family at a restaurant/hotel to eat and dance even more. I really appreciated the experience and getting to see a side of the culture I hadn't been able to witness before. But I really loved spending some quality time with some beautiful girls who have been such a blessing to get closer to.
P.S. We have started taking Albanian lessons from some of our students, and it might be the hardest language ever. There are 36 letters, 4 of which are impossible for me to pronounce, and apparently there are 6 million grammatical rules. So wish us luck, we really do want to learn more so that we can adapt further into the lifestyle here!
Pray for us to have joyful and uplifted spirits. The realities of the real "grown up" world are beginning to bog us down considerably.
Here are some pictures from the wedding!
My roommates and I with our precious friends
This is a traditional dance--you also see several people wearing traditional outfits
Here is the bride (they wear soooo much makeup!) and the groom behind her
And these are some men playing traditional instruments as live music to celebrate the bride's entrance
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