Who needs a groom?

Aren't these two so cute? At first I thought it was weird that the groom didn't come from Conakry for the wedding, but I've rethought it. Doesn't everyone say the wedding is really about the bride anyway? So does it really matter that the groom wasn't there? She was adorably happy and running around taking pictures and we had such good food. All my students wore their "uniforms" and we took lots of pictures.

The girl on the right was a student last semester who apparently flew under the administration's radar the whole semester and then got busted and told she couldn't return for the second semester. She picked me up since I didn't know where the wedding was and we stopped at her house along the way. She has a husband in Spain that she's seen twice - once for the wedding and one other time. But her house is gorgeous - even nicer than mine. I do feel a bit bad for her though, now that she's not studying she told me she's really bored and I don't get the feeling her husband will be sending for her soon.

One of the problems with polygamy and moving to developed countries is that many men take "village wives" here in Guinea but have another family in their new country. That means that the Guinean wives will never get visas to join their spouses. This is a particularly big problem in Timbi because so many men are abroad. My student has financial security, but is bored and lonely. I don't really know what to think about that. Eventually he'll come back and she'll get pregnant. He will leave again before the baby is born and not return for up to 10 years - one of Cam's friends just had his brother return to meet his 8 year old son for the first time. It's such a different conception of fatherhood than we have in the US...even within Guinea it's normal for the immediate family to be broken up. It's much cheaper to pay for a family in the village and to work in Conakry than to have everyone live in Conakry.

It was a fun wedding party, even though there was no ceremony. Everyone treated me really well and made sure I had enough food and soda and everything. It was the first party I've been to where I knew almost everyone and had plenty of people to speak French with! Good times.