Day 1: Another Bumpy Ride
A couple weekends ago we had the opportunity to go see a
traditional Dayak wedding. Dayak is the local tribe (tribe is the best way I
know how to describe it) of the people where I live. A young couple who work at
the care centre here were getting hitched! So we traveled once again for hours
and hours in the back of a truck down dusty, pot-holed roads. Sarah and I had a
grand old time in the back singing very loudly to some very bad songs.
We
arrived late at night, but went straight to the festivities. This little
village had set up quite the party. All the houses were decorated, there were
streamers and banners everywhere, and a big stage set up with singers and
dancers. After a quick bite to eat (Indonesians are big on feeding people when
you arrive somewhere) we sat down to watch the singing and dancing. Naturally,
we got roped into dancing to a couple of songs, very bar-mitzvah-esque, but fun
nonetheless. Hey, that kind of rhymed. That night, the first tradition they
partake in, is the families, followed by basically the whole village, follow
the soon-to-be-newlyweds down to the river, carrying large baskets of uncooked
rice. They wash the rice in the river and say some prayers and then back to
dancing! We finally trudged back own the road to they house we were all staying
in to finally get some sleep after a long long day.
 |
| The men carrying baskets of rice to was in the river |
Day 2: Mandi Duluh dan Menikan
A Bath First (a popular Indonesian saying) and A Wedding
The next day was the big wedding day. But first, a quick dip
in a river. We once again all piled into the truck and drove out of the village
to a beautiful clearing that in the wet season is a huge lake. We then drove
through another, even tinier village to the river. It was one of the most
beautiful spots I’ve seen in Indonesia so far. A nice river, a quaint village,
and a beautiful view. We all jumped in and swam around and jumped in again.
Incredibly refreshing!! It turned out later that kids HAD in fact seen some
little crocodiles in that same river a few days earlier, but hey, we didn’t
know that then, so… ignorance is bliss is this case.
After changing into our party clothes, we walked down the
road to the wedding. There was more singing and dancing as the couple and their
parents sat on a separate little stage and received guests. It seems like an
incredibly long and tedious day for them. The bride actually changed gowns
three times throughout the day. I can’t express in words how much food there
was. They cook pounds and pounds of rice, some in HUGE woks outside over a
fire, and some cooked in bamboo. The bamboo rice is sweetened with some
coconut. We watched the old women stir the rice and ceremoniously unwrap the
bamboo rice and cut the long tubes into smaller pieces for everyone to eat.
They also cook these pancake-like things that are cooked in so much oil they
were actually hard to eat. These two old ladies sat for hours and hours cooking
thousands of these pancakes. They ushered us into the house a couple of times
to eat these giant pancakes.
 |
| Sweet rice, wrapped in leaves, cooked in bamboo |
 |
| The rice is cooked in these bamboo trunks |
After a quick nap and break from the festivities, the
traditional ceremonies began around 3 pm. The bride, her maid of honor, the
groom, and his best man got all dressed up in traditional Dayak dress, and
their arms, legs, and facse were all painted. The bride and her maid of honor
sat in her house, while the groom and his best man, followed by the men of the
village, walked from his house to hers to ‘pick her up’ for the wedding. They
all sat in the house for a while as everyone crowded around taking pictures,
all the while the elders of the village played some drums, and the wedding
party was blessed.
Then everyone, the wedding party, their families, and the
entire village, walked in a procession, again while loud drums were playing,
down the street to a traditional Dayak ‘pondok’, or long house. Here the
wedding party walked around the house three times before entering.
Everyone
crowded into this tiny room, which was basically turned into a sauna. We stood
around the room just DRIPPING in sweat. It was rather disgusting. The bride,
her maid of honor, the groom, and his best man all sat on the floor with two
elders, who blessed them with prayers, talked to them about the commitments of
marriage, blessed them by putting rice on their heads (not sure the exact
significance of this since the language barrier got in the way here). The bride
and groom then said some things and exchanged eating a hot chili with each of
their mothers. Then there was lots of clapping and hooting which led me to
believe that they were officially married now. The whole ceremony was very very
cool to witness; it was both intimate and shared with the whole village and
guests, and unlike anything I could have ever seen elsewhere. The young
now-married couple looked incredibly happy.
Then the real party began. Back in the main house, the old
guys sat down to play some more drums while everyone crowded in again. Everyone
got a few dabs of paint on the face, and the dancing began! Four people stand
in the center of the room and traditionally dance but tapping some feet and
kind of waving arms. Meanwhile, everyone else walks/dances around the room in a
conga-line like procession, banging their feet to the beat. This goes on for
hours. HOURS. Just walking in a circle, packed in this little room, everybody
sweating profusely. It was heaps fun but also a little gross. The drinking
finally started then too. They make this sweet rice-wine like alcohol drink
that they hand to you as you go around and around the room. We did this off and
on for the rest of the evening.
 |
| Sarah and I with Pak Bohap, Dr. G's husband and newly appointed King of the Dayaks |
Day 3: More Pancakes
In the morning we at some more oily pancakes,
bought some traditional Dayak machetes, then piled in again for the 5 hour
bumpy ride home.
 |
| Me, Sarah, and Ritwan, one of our best local friends hanging out at the wedding |
|
