Engagement Party

This is a picture of one of the 3 tents that were set up for the engagement party.  This particular one housed the choir and some of the youths.  The other 2 tents were dedicated to bride and groom guests, respectively.

Here is a close-up of the choir.  They sang before, after, and during the engagement ceremony.  Their dress and music is quite festive; the singing is all a capella with a few percussive instruments played by hand.

This was our dining table--consisting of (from left to right) our friends Captain Bill, Dorothy Njeuma, Janice, Steven, and Christine Njeuma.  Janice, Tom, and Steven all wore African garb given to us by our host Dorothy Njeuma.  Her daughter Christine is the first (and only) woman pilot for Cameroon Airlines.

This is a picture of one of the food tables in the buffet line.  There were many spicy dishes available for Tom and Steven to enjoy!

This is one of the many candidates (woman on the left) that the "matchmaker" (woman on the right) brought out for the groom-to-be's family to inspect and evaluate.  The man in the foreground was the representative of the groom to evaluate this candidate.  He said, "This is one is quite nice, but she is not the one that I am looking for."

Finally, the bride-to-be (woman dressed in light blue--center) arrives surrounded by the choir and her entourage.  Her coming is being celebrated by both song and dance by those around her.

Here is the happy couple!  Both bride- and groom-to-be are dressed in their new engagement clothes.  The engagement ceremony is more formal and seems to be more important than the actual wedding.