for my great grand-parents’ grave.
I was going to fence their grave with the tree included and paint the wood and plant some flowers inside.
The next three days I was occupied with the fencing and paint work, after I completed that task.
I took some Jasmine stems from my front yard and planted them inside the four corners of the grave.
On Thursday I went to visit Asma she was taking her Maths exams the following day.
As her back up tutor I went to wish her well, and to find out if there were any queries that she might have; I was confident that she was going to do well.
That Sunday was my last one in my village and country. Maymun had invited me to her niece’s wedding in Canji. I had never attended a Muslim wedding before and wasn’t sure what to wear.
When I asked her she told me to dress casual, only the bride and groom were the important people on that day.
She said that she was going a few days earlier with Asma to help the family and that I should come with her son and husband.
That Sunday morning I got dressed early and took with me another set of clothing to changed into.
Rain had fallen the previous night and the road was muddy with puddles every-where which was hard to avoid when riding a bicycle.
We were leaving on the first ferry to New Amsterdam which was at 8am. We took a taxi which was a 15minute drive away.
Once we were on board the ferry Ismael explained to me what went on in a Muslim wedding.
The dowry would be given from the bridegroom side, and not from the bride like in a Hindu wedding.
“What did you give my mum?” Harun asked his father, “I give her Jewellery and two cows, one bull and a heifer,” he replied.
It took us 30 minutes to get to New Amsterdam, further up the Berbice River there was a Bauxite mining company, one could hear the plant operating in the distance.
Once we reached the other side, we took another taxi with other passengers going into Canji.
A journey of about 15 minutes took us 30 minutes as the long road was full of pot holes.
If anyone of us in that taxi had a heart condition our chances of survival would be limited.
When we finally arrived at our destination, we were greeted by all the family and I was introduced as Ismael and Maymun’s son.
The three of us had a light breakfast, before we joined the rest of the men cooking the wedding feast in the back-yard which was meat, potatoes and rice.
The food was prepared in huge pots accompanied with roti, salad, and a few sweet dishes.
The meal that was being prepared was for the bride and bride-groom and their guests when they arrived for the Nikkah [wedding].
The Walimah feast was the next day, and that was done on the bridegroom’s side for his guests.
The bride was going into Corentyne two villages away from Skeldon, apparently that girl went to a wedding in the same village where this boy lived.
He was at that wedding and saw her and told his mother they made some enquires and with in six months they were getting married.
I had noticed that there was no music in that Muslim wedding, and men and women did not mix except for the young children.
Large tents were erected from the front of the house to the back where invited guess would sit and eat together on the floor on plastic sheets covered over with a large floral table cloth.
We sat with the men at the back of the house, listening to their talk on cricket, and politics.
When the bridegroom arrived with his guests in six different cars, then all the men were getting ready for their daily Salah [prayer] followed by the Nikkah ceremony.
I asked Harun what I should do. He told me to come along and just follow what everyone in front was doing.
He said that we would stay at the back, and let the older men stand in the front rows.
It was an experience I would never forget, everyone facing in the same direction and prostrating at the same time to One God.
It was the first time that I made prostration and it felt good; it was an amazing scene
I was going to fence their grave with the tree included and paint the wood and plant some flowers inside.
The next three days I was occupied with the fencing and paint work, after I completed that task.
I took some Jasmine stems from my front yard and planted them inside the four corners of the grave.
On Thursday I went to visit Asma she was taking her Maths exams the following day.
As her back up tutor I went to wish her well, and to find out if there were any queries that she might have; I was confident that she was going to do well.
That Sunday was my last one in my village and country. Maymun had invited me to her niece’s wedding in Canji. I had never attended a Muslim wedding before and wasn’t sure what to wear.
When I asked her she told me to dress casual, only the bride and groom were the important people on that day.
She said that she was going a few days earlier with Asma to help the family and that I should come with her son and husband.
That Sunday morning I got dressed early and took with me another set of clothing to changed into.
Rain had fallen the previous night and the road was muddy with puddles every-where which was hard to avoid when riding a bicycle.
We were leaving on the first ferry to New Amsterdam which was at 8am. We took a taxi which was a 15minute drive away.
Once we were on board the ferry Ismael explained to me what went on in a Muslim wedding.
The dowry would be given from the bridegroom side, and not from the bride like in a Hindu wedding.
“What did you give my mum?” Harun asked his father, “I give her Jewellery and two cows, one bull and a heifer,” he replied.
It took us 30 minutes to get to New Amsterdam, further up the Berbice River there was a Bauxite mining company, one could hear the plant operating in the distance.
Once we reached the other side, we took another taxi with other passengers going into Canji.
A journey of about 15 minutes took us 30 minutes as the long road was full of pot holes.
If anyone of us in that taxi had a heart condition our chances of survival would be limited.
When we finally arrived at our destination, we were greeted by all the family and I was introduced as Ismael and Maymun’s son.
The three of us had a light breakfast, before we joined the rest of the men cooking the wedding feast in the back-yard which was meat, potatoes and rice.
The food was prepared in huge pots accompanied with roti, salad, and a few sweet dishes.
The meal that was being prepared was for the bride and bride-groom and their guests when they arrived for the Nikkah [wedding].
The Walimah feast was the next day, and that was done on the bridegroom’s side for his guests.
The bride was going into Corentyne two villages away from Skeldon, apparently that girl went to a wedding in the same village where this boy lived.
He was at that wedding and saw her and told his mother they made some enquires and with in six months they were getting married.
I had noticed that there was no music in that Muslim wedding, and men and women did not mix except for the young children.
Large tents were erected from the front of the house to the back where invited guess would sit and eat together on the floor on plastic sheets covered over with a large floral table cloth.
We sat with the men at the back of the house, listening to their talk on cricket, and politics.
When the bridegroom arrived with his guests in six different cars, then all the men were getting ready for their daily Salah [prayer] followed by the Nikkah ceremony.
I asked Harun what I should do. He told me to come along and just follow what everyone in front was doing.
He said that we would stay at the back, and let the older men stand in the front rows.
It was an experience I would never forget, everyone facing in the same direction and prostrating at the same time to One God.
It was the first time that I made prostration and it felt good; it was an amazing scene
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