Hui Wedding Day 1

A couple weeks ago I had the chance to attend another wedding. The last few times, I didn't know the bride or the groom, but this time I had met the bride before, which made the celebration much more fun! The festivities started on Friday afternoon for me (I'm pretty sure they started earlier). Friends immediately took us to the gift room, where shiny silver teapots, a flatscreen tv, furniture, a motorbike, and lots of clothes, blankets, and other things were stacked up and displayed. We talked and waited in that room for a little while, then headed next door, where the bride was waiting for her Prince Charming. She looked, and said she felt, really nervous, but we didn't get much time with her before we were sent back downstairs. After more waiting, somebody ran in, announcing that the time had come! Excitedly, people moved into the room where some unknown activity (to me, not to them!) was to take place.

It turns out that the unknown activity was the bride coming downstairs, where the groom was waiting for her. They sat at a table with all the family and friends standing around, while a man at the opposite end of the table gave a message and blessed them, part in Chinese and part in Arabic.After the ceremony, we all took pictures with the bride. That poor woman, she had to sit and try and keep her smile genuine for nearly half an hour as different combinations of family and friends came and stood beside her to get their picture taken.
The women in the picture below, relatives of the bride, spent much of the day preparing food. Jiaozi, or dumplings, are made with a flour and water "skin," as it literally translates, wrapped around a filling, in this case beef and a green leafy vegetable (ground and finely chopped, then mixed together). This time, they were boiled and then put into a broth to eat.
The final product! This broth has water, hot peppers, and cilantro.
Some of the relatives. The woman in the middle is the grandmother of my friends.
The day was filled with lots of waiting, trying to figure out what was going on, and eating. Actually, that pretty much sums up lots of days here!

To come: Day 2...