Myanmar Wedding



Victoria (Ei Ei's cousin), Suba, Myo Ko (Ei Ei's boyfriend), Ei Ei and I right before the wedding ceremony!

We arrived at 4:30 am in Yangon.  We felt it was too early to show up at Ei Ei’s – so we waited around the bus station for about an hour, and made a game out of negotiating with the taxi drivers to try to get  the lowest rate.  At 6:00 am, we decided it was ok to start our adventure returning to Insein village for a very important event – Ei Ei was the Maid of Honor in her friend’s wedding – and we were invited!  On December 31^st I anxiously got ready for my first Myanmar wedding.  Ei Ei warned us that it wasn’t an extremely traditional wedding and had been “Westernized,” but I was still really really excited.

Modeling our new longyis for the wedding!

 Ei Ei left around 7:00am to go get ready with the bride.  I of course inquired what color Ei Ei’s dress was, to which she answered “White.”  Oh!  My immediate reaction was “Oh my gosh, you can’t wear white!” and explained to Ei Ei that in the States, no one can wear white but the bride.  But Ei Ei explained that not only would she be wearing white, but she was also getting the same hair and makeup as the bride…I surely thought that if this scenario played out in the States, it would end up in an episode of Bridezillas.  We spent all morning trying to tie our longyis (long traditional Myanmar skirts)…and have them stay on!  Ei Ei’s family helped us get dressed and get ready for the big event.  They were nervous about us in our longyis – essentially you wrap cloth around your waist and just tuck in the corner, like you would for a towel.  Both Suba and I would take a few steps and already our longyis were unraveling.  So her family insisted on a few safety pins to help us!

Happy Newlywed couple

Around 9:00 am, we went with Ei Ei’s family to the church.  The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and there were at least 200 people in the church – Ei Ei’s entire village!  Ei Ei looked stunning as she went down the aisle, and the ceremony was wonderful although I did not understand all that much as it was in Myanmar language!  After the ceremony the reception was in the courtyard, with lunch provided and another chance to see the newlyweds.

 

By the time Suba and I checked in to our hostel that afternoon, we were EXHAUSTED!  It was hard to imagine but just a few short hours earlier we were on a 16 hour bus ride!

After we napped, we met Ei Ei again and got a great tour of her NGO.  Ei Ei works for “Spectrum” a local Myanmar environmental NGO.  They have cartoon manuals about how to treat the environment, educational instruction kits for villagers on farming, and children’s books about the endangered river ayeyarwady dolphins.  It was truly special to see the place where all of Ei Ei’s passion, energy and support went and as she gave us a tour of her place, it was obvious as she spoke that it meant a lot to hear too.

After Spectrum, we went to another family member’s house in Ei Ei’s family, who was throwing a barbeque for the newlyweds.  We sat around the table and ate with over 40 of Ei Ei’s village members, cousins, aunts, nephews, uncles, nieces, sisters, parents, and more.  Everyone was hanging out ouside the house, eating, drinking, talking, laughing (lots of laughing!) and having a great time.  Suba and I both got a little homesick, as we both identified our families as having an aspect of careless, chaotic and charismatic about them and being with Ei Ei’s family helped us realize this. 

Suba, Ei Ei and I outside of SPECTRUM - Ei Ei's office