Wedding Crashers

Invited by our friendly neighbors, we attended our first Sudanese wedding. It seems the wedding festivities go on for several days, and we were invited to attend the final night. We understood that we were going to the ceremony, but it seemed we were there for something closer resembling a reception.
500 people seated at tables surrounded by Christmas lights. (I'm not sure the Muslim world calls them Christmas lights.) The couple arrived, and they were followed by the man with the video camera and the smoke-machine guy. That's right. The couple was followed around by a man with a smoke machine!

I was amazed. But just as I was allowing myself to get caught up in just how absurd it all seemed, I heard it... " You were my strength when I was weak, you were my voice when I couldn't speak..." Celine Dion! I was home! The sappiness of weddings DOES transcend all cultural and language barriers!

And then the dancing! There was something about snapping at people... I thought it was to tell someone "Congratulations- Mabrouk!", but then I was getting snapped at! Hmmm... Didn't ever really figure that one out. It was really refreshing to see all the women in their toabs (with sequins and glitter and lots of makeup!) dancing and having fun.
They all loved Emily. She was definitely a crowd favorite. It seems even in Sudan, the land of minimal dancing, I can't dazzle them with my moves!