My improvised Gabonese wedding

Attentive readers might have seen it on my social media feeds - I got married! How that happened and what else I did over the past few weeks; I am eager to share with You:

Wednesday, 22 April: We were running errands for our wedding in town. Rings, clothes, food… everything must be planned.

Thursday, 23 April: I enjoy being with UAEM again! When time and internet connection allow… Where does this fabric come from? You will see the fabric later.

Friday, 24 April: And the errands continue. Everyone who already organised a wedding might sympathize, even if we were planning just a teeny-tiny little one.

Saturday, 25 April: Look at this box and imagine my heart beating faster.

Monday, 27 April: Another way I get to profit from digitalization – I’m now taking part in a training by “Was hab’ ich?”, an organisation that teaches students to translate medical reports into normal, understandable German. And while working around on the premises, I saw this fancy butterfly Anybody know the name?

Tuesday, 28 April: The first things for the weekend are bought. And sadly, Jacob left us to take a repatriation flight. What once was a fear became reality: I am now the only white student at Cermel.

Wednesday, 29 April: Today I spent the morning in town with Rella and Stasie, who would play such an important role in the wedding. With every shop lacking something different and the relentless heat, it was only able to do this big shopping thanks to Rella’s car. And we were still ready to sleep by 2pm.

Thursday, 30 April: Last meeting at the registry office which almost gave me a heart attack. They wanted to postpone the wedding date, but a few discussions and explanations, that I am about to be send home by my embassy, later, the date was finally confirmed.

Friday, 01 May: Anybody else has a partner who does not let You iron when You are nervous out of fear You’d kill Yourself? The little things… While I had been freaking out the last few days, today I was (a bit) calmer, help had been rushing in from our colleagues, I finally accepted people making last minute changes (under the condition they execute them themselves) and prepared myself for the big day.

Saturday, 02 May: The day has come! Waking up at 7am, first thing was to pray with Stasie who had stayed over. Then I picked my flowers, as there is no shop for this in Lambaréné. At 7am (plus African time) pick-up for the hairdresser – Who was excited my groom is part-Cameroonian, where she comes from. Then at 09h30, Rella picked Stasie and I up, Franck was already in the car, to go to the registry office. We then held our civil wedding, in camera due to the pandemic, with only our witnesses Rella, Stasie and Wilfrid. The mayor who got us married was very jovial, insisting on beautiful kisses, vows, and pictures. After this, the first surprise awaited us. Instead of waiting at Rella’s place as planned, Francoise received us at the Albert Schweitzer hotel were our colleagues decorated us a hotel room beautifully for the night after the party. While waiting for the party preparations to be finished by our witnesses and colleagues, we already had the first pictures and wave of messages rolling in. We then came to Jacob’s house, where courtesy to the hospital direction we could still have the party, a bigger reception than I’d imagined awaited us: The house and outside area where decorated beautifully, our guests greeted us joyfully to guide us to the bridal pair’s couch. Not long and they insisted for us to come for opening the dance floor, worship chants included. Ghyslain, though absent, sent us a beautiful speech. We ate well, drank well, and danced well thanks to the very spontaneous help of numerous colleagues. Until the evening curfew we spent a couple of hours before retreating to the hotel. What was planned as a meal with the witnesses became a simple, joyous and beautiful party and You can watch some of the impressions in this video Anthony made for us.

Tuesday, 05 May: I took a counselling call to get advice on hour it works with visa etc. in this binational marriage I am now in. And as if he knew the one big act, I still had to do here was done, I got a call from the German embassy in the evening informing me there would be a repatriation flight for me in about ten days.

Thursday, 07 May: Really preparing my departure, I went to the foreigners’ office to get my leaving permit, but their system was not connected. You can see here some lab pictures taken for an article. After work (which is now in the afternoon), we went out with the nurses and other colleagues to show our gratitude for them making our day so special.

Friday, 08 May: I went again to the foreigners’ office and finally got my permit. And as I was waiting every day for an exact flight date, I already shared an apple cake with my colleagues.

Saturday, 09 May: Franck and I started the packing – sorting what was mine to take, his to keep, to give away, to throw away, to move to his room…

Sunday, 10 May: … and this continued as 15 months of life are not easily packed into two suitcases.

Monday, 11 May: But my room was now empty.

Tuesday, 12 May: This evening I said my goodbye, Corona-style only with our housemates.

Wednesday, 13 May: Franck, taking his wedding-leave, and I left with a Cermel car to stay in Ghyslain’s/the Cermel house in Libreville. You already know it from Lia’s wedding weekend in August! We went with a Cermel car and this was the smoothest ride I ever had, not even one passport control. Possibly our institution is gaining in reputation due to our involvement in Corona sample analysis.

Thursday, 14 May: We spend the day at the house, which is immensely beautiful, taking it slow, organising our life, eating, and still waiting for the flight date which will not be tomorrow.

Who would have thought I would end up sitting in our boss’s house in Gabon with my newlywed husband waiting for a repatriation flight during a global pandemic? Life is beautiful and I am ever grateful for the opportunities given and people put in my life by God. Besides the undeniable challenges and hardships I faced, the last 15 months also gave me generous, hands-on and passionate people of which one even chose to spend the next 15 months, and then the next and the next and so on, with me and I with him. Workwise also my project is yet to be finished so stay tuned.

See You, take care,

Doro

462 days in Lambaréné, Gabon

? days until Germany