Tim and Justine Brown's Gasaba! ( back to the end of November)

This is the second phase of the process of marriage in Rwanda.  This is the Gasaba…. the 

official engagement party… but it is more like a wedding.  

Here at Tim's place we find the group of Tim's family and friends assembled to caravan to the Gasaba. This is a nice shot…

 and this is nice and certainly colorful, too, but…

 THE PROM SHOT---is my favorite! 
Everyone complied with my request.  Great group!! 

Tim giving directions….

Tom, the creator of this hammock telling Nash all about it. 
Or maybe Nash telling Tom… not sure. ha!

Tim had asked Bruce to be his "father" stand in since his folks
were not here in Rwanda.  That was great
but when it came time during the Gasaba i didn't know
I was also to be the mom figure… Found out about that
later. 

Johnson… looking dapper!

Winding our way down some back streets to get to
 Justine's family's house. 

The white tents designate the spot for this beautiful event.
And the Cows… are the gift from the groom! 

They arrived later in the ceremony with the Cow Herders and they put on quite a show for us.

And so did the dancers.  They were wonderful and
their outfits were beautiful!

 This was "Dad" receiving this gift from the almost
Bride and Groom.

Thanks to Cathy she took the pictures of the 2nd 1/2 of the day because my camera died…  Here is her shot of Justine..

 Watching everything happen! 

   These eleaborate temporary throne rooms are arrayed like this
for every Gasaba we've attended.  At the end of the ceremony all of the attendants were on the platform with the couple and it was FULL!

We had to leave then and were escorted out because the REAL tradition is that the Mom and Dad now host the bride in the groom's family home.   They got as far as ushering us out but no one left.
Apparently the party went on into the night!  A fun time!!

Congratulations, Tim and Justine.
It was a beautiful day for you!

love,
margie