Wedding Preparation / Family background

Well, things are progressing just fine for the wedding. Jeanne has been quite busy with wedding preparation. It’s a good thing that she is a teacher and has the time for all the details! Last weekend, we went to Thies for a holiday that they have there for Saint Anne, which is the Saint that the Catholic Church there is named after. While we were there, I got fitted up for my suit at the tailor’s for the wedding. And then, during the week, we got dining room chairs, began preparing invitations (to be printed this week), began talking with the caterer, found a photographer, etc. etc.

Fortunately Jeanne is on vacation and can take care of most of this stuff! Yesterday though, I decided to be a good fiancé and pitch in. Actually, I have taken the lead on a couple of things: hotel room on wedding night, honeymoon, and photographer. I have even drafted some invitations on the computer. Finding clothes for me for the wedding, though, has been something that I have left in Jeanne’s hands. We went to the market together yesterday looking for shoes for me. The first place we went to had shoes on sale for around 90 dollars. I didn’t like them – they were long and pointy and make me look like a clown. I suppose looking like a clown is in fashion (Jeanne thought they were OK, but knew that I would never wear them). The second store that we went to had better looking shoes, but for over 200 bucks. We passed those up and found ourselves in the town center where there was a store that looked really expensive. Jeanne said, let’s just go look – won’t hurt anything. We did, and all men’s dress shoes were around 450 US dollars. I don’t even know if I liked them – I left them right there on the shelf. In the end, I think that I am going to get some handmade shoes. There is a guy who does this, and has made some shoes for Jeanne’s dad for a reasonable price

Anyhow, the blog has indeed been stagnant for some time. I haven’t written in a while, because I haven’t had any questions. I figured that your preparations for coming are well underway. I did talk with Lyn, and she had questions about Jeanne’s family. So, I will take this opportunity to give you a little background.

Jeanne’s full name is Jeanne Françoise Guignane Faye. The first part of the name is right from the French Catholic tradition, while her 3rd name is from her paternal grandmother. The last name is her family name, which works just like it does in the US (passed down from the paternal side of the family). After the wedding, she is planning to add a fifth, so she will be Faye-Sharghi. She is the 4th of 8 children of her parents Georges and Cathy Faye. In the beginning, there were three boys – that was followed by five girls: Nicolas, Joe, Patrice, Béatrice, Jeanne, Thérèse, Irène, Rose. With the exception of Joe who is living in Turin, Italy, and won't be able to make it to the wedding, all of the siblings are in Senegal. Patrice is married with a baby girl just over one, and Béa and her husband had a baby girl in December. Both Patrice and Nicolas are school teachers (like Jeanne), while Thérèse is a nurse. Rose is also studying to be a nurse.

Jeanne’s family is from the Serere ethnicity, or more precisely Serere-Nun; there are 5 different types of Serere in Senegal, and their languages can be quite different between them. The family is from the town of Thies and they are Catholic living in a Catholic neighborhood. Having Muslim neighbors (Senegal being 95% Muslim), the Catholics in general pride themselves on eating pork and drinking wine. It is in her father’s house that we will be having the traditional wedding ceremony on Saturday – probably not with pork, but with plenty of wine. This house is the place where Jeanne and her siblings grew up, and where Fatim has been living for the last 3 years. Jeanne’s father is a police chief. He has also worked with UN Peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and more recently in Ivory Coast. Mom is, well with eight kids, she’s been quite busy I think.

In the same compound resides Georges’ brother Alphonse and his wife Bernadette. It is in their house that I had my Peace Corps home stay for three months in 1998 when I first arrived in Africa. I won’t get into their family breakdown, but one of their sons is Julien who has just graduated from the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar to be an English teacher. He was one of my four host brothers when I was living with the family in 1998. I have asked Julien to be available for the two weeks that you are here so that he can accompany us and you will have someone to talk with, and translate for you as needed!

I hope that this gives you some background on Jeanne’s family. Please don’t hesitate to ask more questions, and I will do my best to answer! One topic that I have not yet revealed to you is that you are coming during the holy month of Ramadan. It's a bummer, because life here wont be the same, but it's the only time we could have planned it for. I am looking forward to your visit (only 1 month away)!