Ethiopia - The Weddings

After their long journey across the world, the exhausted team had several hours to rest and settle in to their hotel rooms before their first meeting together.  The Fisherman had just laid down for some much needed sleep when he heard music and celebration coming through his window.  He got up, looked outside and discovered a beautiful and enormous park across the street in which seemed to be multiple wedding celebrations going on at once.  He grabbed his camera and headed over. The park, he said, was about the size of three football fields and therefore able to support multiple independent weddings at the same time.   So one of his first experiences in Ethiopia was of the universal custom of the marriage celebration.  It was also a representation of the wealthy side of Ethiopian life.

There was the green and peach wedding...

....the gold and white wedding...

Some wedding parties wore garments of the culture while other brides and bridesmaids were clad in western styled gowns you'd expect to see here in the U.S.  There was the red wedding...

The wedding parties each walked around in a parade like way. I am left very curious about this custom as he never found out anything about it.  But he watched wedding after wedding conduct the same display.

I'm thinking these people below are not a wedding party but musicians/singers.

Of course the music, the singing, clapping, and drums, must have been beautiful both to hear and behold. 

Look at that awesome drum!

With what looks to us like "ancient" garb, it struck me funny to see the juxtaposition of the beautiful draping clothing and...a cell phone.

Or is that an iPod?

Another thing The Fisherman observed was the Bride and Groom engaging in this custom...

The car was moving slowly at only a couple miles per hour as the Bride and Groom held hands over the roof and hung on for the ceremonial ride.

There was the turquoise wedding....

And another turquoise wedding....

More music.  The Fisherman is always attracted to music.

I'm wondering if at some point the bride and groom walk between these rows of singers below.

Then there were these guys who played this interesting instrument...

It has one string and is played with a bow, different notes being created by where the fingers are placed on the string.  The string is comprised of multiple strands of horse hair.  The body of the instrument is a square box made of stretched animal hide like drums have stretched over them. The instruments range from simple to ornate, as one would imagine. And The Fisherman said these guys could really jam on them!

The Fisherman came home with one of these instruments.  A simple one.  I wondered how much it cost.  A musical instrument is a valuable item to me.  Given the cost of living differential, I randomly guessed $60.  He said it cost about $20.  It's so cool and I love it.  I just for the life of me cannot figure out how he got it in his luggage to come home!