Celebrations

Last week, we had the opportunity to see our friend Tenena get married in Bouake!

Weddings in Cote d'Ivoire are something else. There is such a strong sense of tradition, but it's not really African tradition. There are so many elements that seem so western to me.

Like the exchanging of rings,

kissing the bride,

cutting the cake,

a veiled bride in white,

and matching bridemaid dresses.

But the funny thing is that everything was done just a little bit differently...

The bride and groom sit on a couch next to each other, but neither smiles or looks at the other one.

I was so relieved to see them smile after they were announced husband and wife!

The most entertaining part of the ceremony for me was introducing Cote d'Ivoire to the Electric Slide.

That's right! Instead of contributing a song, we line danced to Brad Paisley. And the sea of faces that watched this happen were amazed the the toubabous could dance like that!

We were all so pleased to see Tenena and Kolo so happy together.

Then, Sunday night, it was back to Korhogo!

Yesterday afternoon, the Korhogo crew decided to have lunch at a chawarma shop Rod and Angelika had talked about. It was SO GOOD! It's run by a Moroccan man and he even makes cheeseburgers! We had a good time, just hanging out in the street side cafe.

Then, halfway through our tea, we heard a ruckus out in the street... It sounded like a fight had broken out or the village tom toms were walking through! Then I heard it...

"Gbagbo est attrapé!"

(Gbagbo is captured!)

The sounds in the street were screams, yells, songs of joy! Everyone was running, dancing, and shaking hands. With hands raised to the sky, the women ran through the market. And the six of us stood there, totally speechless, wondering if this was actually true.

And it is true!

My hope is that this signals a new time of reconciliation and recooperation for Cote d'Ivoire.

This could be the beginning of great things here!

  

It's all been so encouraging as we've seen the country struggle since the elections were scheduled in late October. It's nice to see some steps forward. Let's pray they continue to move in a peaceful direction.

Celebrations.

I'm so thankful I got to see, to hear, to share in JOY.