Our Weekend in Goa - More about the Wedding

Friday mid-day was Mahindi (maybe Mehindi) where the ladies have henna applied to their hands (and feet, if they wish). I had done this in Tanzania years ago, so I had some idea what to expect. Basically, the woman painted this design on my hand with henna, the consistency of mud. I sat very, very still for about an hour while it dried, and then scraped off the caked-on part. Drinks were being served during this event ... but we all had henna drying on our hands, so not much was imbibed.

On Friday evening there was a cocktail hour(s)/musical variety show/buffet dinner for everyone. I'm not kidding. The brother and sis-in-law of the groom did a choreographed dance number that was more than 10 minutes long and included about 15 different song clips. A family sung a capella, a woman played a guitar and sang, a friend of the bride did an interpretive dance, friends of the groom narrated a slide show about their motorcycle trip to Turkey (from Holland), two uncles red poetry in Hindi, and the brother of the bride was the Emcee for the event. It was ... interesting. With the exception of the first number (the brother & sis-in-law), no one should really quit their day job. But each act was a touching tribute to the couple - which made it lovely in it's own right.

Saturday mid-day was a ceremony where the bride's mother's brother gives her bangles (bracelets) to wear for the wedding. They are traditionally made of ivory. But since ivory is now illegal in India, they are made of plastic. This event started at 11a. At two minutes before eleven, Erika and I bumped into the bride at breakfast. She had just sat down to order breakfast and didn't seem to be in a hurry. We went to where the ceremony was being held and waited about 35 minutes. Still no bride. Luis was soon to need nursing, so we snuck back out.

(And that takes us up to the the part where the groom and his peeps gather, sing and dance with the band and march to the site - which I've already written about.)