It’s party time! (Part 1)

Hope you guys had enjoyed your weekend. It was my cousin’s wedding on the 14^th of May, so I had lots of fun in the weekend. We were all very excited, cause there would be one big day in the family again. There was a lot to do before the big day. The others had done some extra shopping for the wedding. I only bought a sirbandi (head jewelry) on the Tuesday before the wedding, and then picked up two Pizza’s at Pizza Boys with the coupons that the others at home had received after shopping at a store which had an Easter shop and eat deal. We suddenly received guests at home from Holland (the bride’s sister and brother-in-law) along with the bride’s dad that day, so the pizza was a double advantage; we didn’t have to bake anything. The medium Veggie Pizza was yummier then the mini Plain Cheese Pizza.

On Wednesday mom had to make 350 Gulab Jamuns for the wedding. I had baked about 400 Gulab Jamuns. We had made a few extras for at home, but gave away more then 350 for the wedding. It was very exhausting work; my back was hurting from standing very long in front of the gas, cause you have to bake with a very low fire. They were very yum.

On Thursday there was the Mehendi night at the bride’s home. I didn’t want Henna applied on my hands, so I just stayed home and polished my nails. Someone once told me that if you apply Henna on both hands, it means that you are getting married, and I wasn’t the one getting married.:)

This is how the bride’s Henna decorated hands and feet looked   like.

I also had photographed the hands of one of my nieces.

Mom came late at night from the Mehendi night and at about 12 o’clock in the morning she started making a bouquet. It was 1 o’clock when she was done with this bouquet.

On Friday, mom woke up very early in the morning to make sew and khaja (sweets) to gift it to the bride’s mom along with some gifts and the bouquet.

Then she hurried to get ready and left with dad and my younger sister to help with the preparations for the Bhatwaan (celebration before the wedding day). I left a little bit later at 11 o’clock with my brothers to help along at the bride’s home. There was a lot to do; I had helped with decorating the tent with balloons and with preparing roti’s. The men also had helped in cutting vegetables and preparing the food.

Looking at these pumpkin pieces, I’m in a mood to make a pumpkin cake. I last had found a recipe for pumpkin cake; maybe I’ll try it out one of these days. And oh ya, wishing everyone a belated Halloween!

It’s always a good idea to have a flycatcher in your home in Suriname; the flies actually also came to party.:)

This sweet guy from the decoration also wanted to be on the picture.

This is how the light trees finally looked like.

 At the Bhatwaan party at night there was Lawa bhujayi (grain and popcorn baking), dancing and yummy food.

The band ‘Mousi and Friends’ (Aunt and Friends).

                                    

The only bad thing was that my uncle had discovered in the morning that the radio, headlights and battery of his car had been stolen. The next morning when we were leaving from the wedding party, my brother also discovered that one of the headlights from his care had been stolen. The thieves had also tried removing another headlight; it was a little bit loose when my brother checked it. The criminality in Suriname is continually increasing. Thieves don’t even spare children’s homes; I heard yesterday on the news that thieves had robbed a children’s home. Some people don’t stay late at parties nowadays, cause they’re afraid that something in/of their car might be robbed or some or afraid of leaving their home for just a few hours.

I’ll tell you about the wedding day next time. Till then, wishing you a wonderful time!