after finishing my praxis (is the plural praxi? or praxises?), i gpsed my way over to debbie's house. a lot of people were there, getting ready for the wedding, which was to take place at a local hall. there was a lot of laotian food made up. i ate some of the eggrolls (awesome) and the sticky rice (awesome) and the ground up fish with the special sauce that you were supposed to roll up in the lettuce leaves (a little messy but awesome), but passed on the dish with the minced up tripe (it's a consistency thing. something about chewing up some animal's rubbery guts...). didn't really get a chance to rest, as the praxis had seriously delayed my schedule, so i got dressed, and got the kids dressed too, and it was off to the hall for the wedding...
the hall was a large room hung up with christmas lights. it had a stage, and when we arrived, some local thai/laotian band called "blue sky" was doing a mike check. btw, the sound was super loud. cranked up to 11, as they'd say in spinal tap. there was actual concern about the placement of the cake too close to the speakers, as this would collapse it, or perhaps spray icing into the crowd (no such concern was given for irreversible damage to ear follicles).
lynn and i were given the duty of watching the reception table. we kind of got a late start to that duty, as we were on again off again participants in the ceremony itself. how can i describe the laotian ceremony? well, first of all, the bride and groom were dressed in beautiful laotian attire. for soukan, the groom, this consisted of a white silken suit, with a blue sash running from one shoulder to the contralateral hip. debbie was dressed similarly, with a white dress and an ornate blue sash. there was a large mat laid out in the center of the hall, and on that mat were two- i don't really know how to describe them- little mountain monuments made out of green leaves and flowers, with dollar bills folded around toothpicks stabbed into it all, and offerings of fruit and chicken and eggs around the base, and white streamers hanging all around... the couple knelt before these "monuments", and the family knelt all around the couple. a "priest" (dressed quite ordinarily, in a suit) began a long and intricate chant in laotian, punctuated periodically by the crowd shouting "oooh!" at certain points, members of the family laid hands upon the bride/groom, or used their hands to support the arms of the bride/groom, symbolizing how the family would provide support for the bride/groom in their new life together. and then, towards the end, the bride and groom tied white bracelets around each other's wrists; i was told that these white bracelets contained the best wishes of people, and were not be removed. individual family members also tied the bracelets around the wrists of the bride and groom and also got bracelets themselves. after that, the bride and groom blew out candles/incense at the tops of the monuments, exchanged rings (actually a very minor, almost hidden part of the ceremony), and had a kiss...
oddly enough, after this laotian ceremony, there was also another "ceremony," conducted by a largish man dressed in something akin to what an informal catholic priest would wear. he also conducted a very brief ceremony in english, and using the language of catholicism: "by the power of the father, the son, and the holy ghost..." it was this man who had and officiated over the formal and legally binding papers (i remember there was some question about whether the bride and groom really needed to sign them or not)... this, to me, was interesting. i wanted to know about the relationship between catholicism and laotian culture; was it similar to the situation in certain lands, like haiti for instance, where christianity/catholicism mixed with the indigenous religion and rituals to form a kind of hybrid religion? or was it more the case that the two operated on different levels, with one being the "blood" religion of the people, and the other being the "raiment" or white clothed "voice" religion?
after the ceremony, well, it was a big long party. people streamed in, decked out in nice suits and dresses. formal, but not in the typical wedding style. in some cases, it seemed as though people were dressed up for prom. and this seemed appropriate, as it did feel like a dance party, with the band playing full blast, and the alcohol being poured and imbibed to abandon (the favors, which lynn and i passed out at the door, were shot glasses with the character for love printed across the front). as i said, lynn and i were responsible for greeting guests, receiving gifts, having people sign in, and giving guests the shot glass. we were admonished at times for being too demanding (apparently signing in, or receiving the shot glasses was voluntary), and at times for not being demanding enough (apparently signing in and receiving the shot glass was obligatory). lynn and i both learned the standard greeting, "sabaidi" (which our translating assistant, kai ? said meant, basically, "how are you?"). we started out saying it awkwardly, and then began to flourish it with hands held together in prayer formation as a greeting. at first, guests mirrored our awkwardness, seeing we were clearly foreigners, but as the night progressed, we seemed to get more into it. at some points, guests actually thought i was lao, and would engage in conversation with me (usually about the hennesy, which, i gathered, they wanted me to pour into their shot glass)...
laotian music has a simple square beat. the singing can be very intricate and passionate, especially when women sing it (the female singer was exquisite, her voice was like that of a beautiful bird, straining at the constraints of her cage). the dancing was very simple, and in certain respects resembled a bon dance, with people forming lines that spun slowly around the floor in clockwise direction. the women would do this flipping movement with their hands, reminiscent of (to me) awa odori. some of them could be surprisingly suggestive with this simple movement (of course, their fitted dresses helped). the men, on the other hand, would do a more palms down pushing motion, kinda like they were saying, "hey, it's cool, it's cool."
lynn got a chance to dance with kai during the laotian "la bamba" cover. i also cut the rug for a bit, and thankfully didn't injure any nearby bystanders.
it was a long but fun night. we left the wedding party as it was beginning to wind down, at about 10:30 or 11:00...
okay, enough for tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment