Today, I attended the traditional marriage event of one of my street neighbors. I received an invitation to the party last week, and all through the week, I was reminded countless times by both the bride-to-be and her parents. Each time they passed by and saw me in the compound, they would greet me and remind me of the event.
I’m not really the party type, and I initially planned to ignore the invitation. However, given how often they reminded me, it started to feel like they were going to give me a VIP seat, lol. So, I decided to attend.
The event was scheduled to start at 2 pm, but due to “African Time,” I figured it would start later. I decided to wait an extra hour before going because I didn’t want to arrive early only to wait for the program to begin. I eventually left at 3:20 pm, but, as expected, I arrived to find the party had yet to start. I couldn’t turn back, as that would mean paying double for transportation, so I stayed and waited.
Fortunately, within 30 minutes, the MC announced the official start of the ceremony, which mostly involved dancing and celebration, as all of the traditional requirements had already been met. I sat at the table reserved for people from our street, so we sat together, talked, ate, drank, danced with the couple, and sprayed what little money we had as we celebrated. After that, we left the scene.
The food at the party was limited, and we saw many people calling out and shouting at the caterers for not serving them. I was lucky to receive food without having to say much since I’m not the type to shout or beg for food. I’d rather just get up and leave than make a scene over food.
As I left, the music was still playing, and people were still dancing. I felt happy to have attended because I wouldn’t want to be seen as the bad person who didn’t show up.
Thanks.