Cambodian Wedding, Part 2

Each table at the wedding had a bottle of Chivas Regal whiskey.  Thankfully, the tables also had several cans of soda water to mix in with the whiskey.  Whenever the fancy struck them, someone at the table would raise his whiskey and say cheers.  And every else was supposed to raise his whiskey and take a sip.  Additionally, anytime a whiskey drinker walked up to a table or to a group of people, the ritual was repeated.  Women seemed to be excepted from this custom, so I was spared, but Jeremy happily participated.

As we finished eating, we noticed guests gathering near the center of the room.  The couple was at the back of the room and began walking up through the middle, with guests cheering and throwing confetti and spraying silly string.  When they reached the dance floor, Hemroth and Sophal had their first dance.  You'll notice they are now wearing white, whereas they were wearing green when we arrived!

In the center of the dance floor was a table piled high with fruit.  After the first dance, the guests were invited to help themselves to a piece of fruit.  I was planning on hanging back and not getting any, since the table quickly became a mob scene, but one of my friends grabbed a full banana bunch, and pulled one off for me.  Not sure what to do with it, I started to put it in my purse to take home, but he said I was supposed to eat it right away, for good luck.

The dance floor quickly filled up again as guests started dancing.  Khmer dancing remains mysterious to me.  Everyone moves slowly in a circle, in a 3-step rhythm, while gently twirling their arms in front of them from side to side.  And you keep doing this, over and over, to music that hardly seems to stop or change.  After about once around the circle, I'm pretty bored, but Cambodians will just keep at it.  Jeremy and I each did a couple laps around the circle, with helpful friends showing us the movements.

Eventually, we extracted ourselves from the dance floor and prepared to leave.  But not before one final picture of the bride, who was now wearing another different dress!

Erica, Hemroth, and Virginia