wedding cake????

My friend Milcha took me to  her cousins wedding today! I was so excited to go to my first Kenyan wedding. It was beautiful, yet simple.  The day was perfect for a wedding! Most churches here are made of mud with tin roofs, so on a hot day, they are miserable! But today.... perfect! There was a gentle breeze, yet the sun was out the entire time! The wedding itself was very similar to weddings in America. The bride wore white, the bridesmaids had matching dresses. There were flower girls and junior bridesmaids, and matching grooms men. The service took about an hour and a half. Then it was off to the reception. The reception was held at the grooms house. There were big tents, and seats for the guests. The food was (kenyan) to say the least. The only real difference was that there were no tables, just lots of chairs. 

Now to the wedding cake! Let me just start by saying, there was obviously not enough to go around, there were around 500 guests! Not that I would have wanted any cake anyways. Cake here is absolutely .... not the greatest! I don't know why no one here can figure out how to bake a good cake. We have many bakery's here, but all the cakes just taste like crumbly corn bread. They are very dry and all taste the same, whether its chocolate or vanilla. And don't even get me started on the icing. It looks beautiful! But tastes and feels like its been sitting on the cake for years! Maybe after peace corps I stay here and open my own bakery! Grandma, you can come help. They have all the ingredients to bake wonderful things! I've baked numerous things in my jiko oven!, and I know the bakery's have actual ovens. So I just feel like there is no excuse........

I got a picture with the bride and groom as they were discussing dowery.  

Oh you haven't heard of dowery?..... Here in Kenya, when a man marries a women, he has to pay her family a dowery. This usually consists of several cows and goats. Depending on the size of the family and the educational back ground will determine the number of cows and goats. My friend Andrea and I always tell the men who propose to us, that our fathers want 100 cows, plus shipping them to America! hahaha I was told today that, that is way to much, but I now have someone working on getting 100 cow.. Look out dad! 

Anyways, it was an awesome cultural experience!