A Wedding in Three Languages

On Sunday one of the Chin friends I tutor in English got married. Ni Iang (the woman on the right) married her boyfriend Thang Li (I hope I'm spelling his name right) in a service at our church, officiated by my husband in English, translated by a Burmese pastor into Burmese, and with music in Chin, Ni Iang's native tongue. She was an absolutely gorgeous bride in her traditional beaded dress. Makes me wonder why we Americans choose boring white when there's no law dictating what we wear to get married.

Cultural differences are so fun to observe. The wedding party never smiled (it is a solemn affair) until after the wedding was over and they posed for photos (and most of the men never did, even when I said, "Smile!"), and from what I could observe, the couple never made eye contact with Zach or each other. But the guests were far more casual than any wedding you've probably been to. People came and left all throughout the affair and children tore up and down the aisles (this behavior is normal in their church services, says my husband, and parents almost never make a move to retrieve their children). So by American standards it was stoic and chaotic at the same time.

Afterward we all went down to the fellowship hall to eat. Though our family had eaten lunch just a few hours before, and while we attempted to get a little bit of everything to be polite (except the fried fish heads), our attempts to take a modest amount of food failed as dish after dish of fish heads, pork, chicken, soup, and more pork were thrust upon us by our gracious hosts. Our friend Amawng, who speaks excellent English, told us that we (thankfully) would not offend anyone if we couldn't eat it all, and we took most home in a box to show our appreciation.

Despite the fact that many of these wonderful people don't yet have jobs and are living extremely modestly (certainly below the poverty level) they tried to pay Zach for officiating and pay for use of the church. They are fantastically generous with what little they have. We accepted payment so that we would not offend them, then added that money to the money that was being collected as gifts to the bride and groom. The only reason I feel comfortable mentioning this is because I'm 99.9% sure they don't know about this blog—and because our English lessons are going very slowly. ;)

It was so fun to attend this wedding and to see my friend looking so incredibly beautiful. May God bless their marriage richly with love, prosperity, and children.