Dar es Salam vacation_wedding

[Samakimoto Graphics]

Sorry it took soooo long to get these and share them.
Finally had them developed...

This is a hut by the wayside on the Nairobi-Tanzania Highway; the Tanzania side...

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It was maize (corn) harvest in East Africa generally. This is a truck carrying maize stalks. I took this from the bus as it overtook...

The next is me at the house we were staying...

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The first is me having my mendhi done by one of the bride's sisters...

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These is a close up of the intricate arabic mendhi technic...

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That's me and one of the groom's (my buddy) relatives stringing fresh flowers for garlands for the wedding ceremony and wedding nite room...:)

I'm a certified expert now ;)

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This is befor we decorated it...

The decoration is done by the friends of the groom. We put dry beans under the bed spread and an alarm clock set for 3am under the bed...:D

[morea]

very neat, Samakimoto... how long does it take to complete such an intricate mendhi?

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This is after...

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The artist who was doing it was pretty fast, I was impressed. she took an average of 15 minutes per hand.

Then you had to sit still until it dried and started to flake off leaving a nice orange pattern which became much darker the next morning because of body heat.

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This is a shot from the street of the main retail market in down town Dar es Salaam.

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Me...:)

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This is at the beach with the groom and his best man, and the best man's wife...

[morea]

wow, what a beautiful place!

[Red Kittie Kat]

Beautiful pics SG!! Looks like everyone had a great time :)

I have a pics of when my sister had the henna applied when she was in Morocco the first time. She had both hands and feet done.... she had to sit in the same spot for 3 hours until it was fully dried :D ...... and her skin really absorbed it .... usually it wears off in a couple weeks.... she had her beautiful pattern for a little over 2 months!! :eek:

:D

[Samakimoto Graphics]

Hena is pretty good for temporary tattoos too...for those not into self-inflicted pain.

[urstwile]

I had a henna tattoo once, but it washed off almost immediately, I had it done at Ventura beach in California. I suspect that was part of the problem. :rolleyes:

Sama, thank you so much for sharing those pictures. The before and afters of the decorated room were great. What is the tradition of the dried beans under the bed? The alarm clock I sort of understand, or maybe I don't. I know that when I have to get up early I usually have a couple of alarm clocks set around the room and a couple of really early rising friends to wake me (like when I have a 6 a.m. flight to catch, for example).

[Samakimoto Graphics]

There's no tradition behind he dry beans' it was just meant to give them a hard time. Next morning he growled at his best man about it. The alarm clock was just a trick; the wedding proceedings are quite exhausting, often the couple just nod off to sleep instead of...you know... so we meant to remind them they were supposed to be...you know what...

This mendhi is specially mixed using other herbs and strong tea to keep it on longer. Like Kitty mentioned, you have to wait until it starts to flake of on it's own so it stays on longer.

I would've posted pictures of the actual wedding but the groom was apprehensive about having them on the net.

Kitty, they say that the darker the resulting pattern is, shows the depth of the man's love for the woman.

[Red Kittie Kat]

lmao Sama then he must really love her :D

These photos aren't great ... they were scanned in from her pics she took or had taken while she was in morocco. This was her Henna design

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/RedKittieKat/Jess/moroc14.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/RedKittieKat/Jess/moroc12.jpg


and flaked off ......


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/RedKittieKat/Jess/moroc16.jpg

[Red Kittie Kat]

and this is after she got home 3 weeks later....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/RedKittieKat/Jess/5-1.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/RedKittieKat/Jess/1-1.jpg


It took a good 2 months before it really started to fade out ;)

[Samakimoto Graphics]

He definately does.

That's a nice pattern.

Mendhi is also an organic nail hardener for those with sof tips that crack and break. You can grow out you nails then wear the polish of your choice.

I'm researching on a paper on the variation of the designs across continents.

[Red Kittie Kat]

I need to get some of that mendhi :D ..... I have a terrible time growing my nails ;)