Piece of Cake

One of the teacher's sisters is getting married, and they had a wedding dinner the night before the marriage ceremony.  I don't know the bride, but that didn't matter.  Cambodian parties are huge.  Everyone is invited.  Kim came over to my apartment before hand to do my hair and make-up.  When she arrived, she looked at me and said, "Kerri.  Is that what you wear?"  Then, she picked out a different dress which was apparently more suitable.  While I put it on, she picked up my purse and started pulling everything out.  "Kerri, what is this?"  "Uh...it's Purel."  If you knew Kim, none of this would surprise you.  She braided my hair in a traditional Cambodian style and applied my make-up which I'll describe as part prostitute, part clown.  The eye shadow and rouge was really heavy, but the eyebrows were the dominant feature.  She literally took a brown eyebrow pencil and drew large, dark eyebrows onto my forehead.  I wish I took a picture; it was hilarious.  I told her how beautiful I looked and tried not to let her see me wiping off my scary eyebrows with a tissue throughout the evening.

There was not a shortage of food.  They kept bringing bowls of rice, whole fried fish, soup, papaya salad, and roasted vegetables. 

The girls in the bridal party wore lacy pink dresses, fake nails and eyelashes, and were dripping with gold jewelry.  It is customary for the groom to wear a white suit, but sometimes he may wear light green or blue.  The bride had a white dress, similar to American wedding gowns, only with a lot more lace.  Instead of a cake, they have a fruit tower.  The bridal party walked in circles around the fruit several times.  Then, they fed fruit to each set of parents and say some prayers.  Later, the fruit was dispersed among the guests, as if we didn't have enough to eat already.

The soon-to-be married couple had their first, very awkward, dance.  It was like watching a couple junior high kids at a school dance.  At the end of the night, the bride threw her flower bouquet to a group of single girls and boys.  They tried to drag me up there, but I refused and said I didn't want to get married.  However, I did join in the dancing.  We made a circle around what was left of the fruit tower and walked around it while doing the traditional dance.  Rana taught me the simple moves, and everyone made fun of the barang, as usual.