Episode 5
I'll give you 30 cows!
If you want to marry a girl out here in Malawi, you'll have to woo her with more than a diamond ring. In fact, you'll have to woo her whole family with cows! The more precious the girl is, the more cows she'll be offered. I heard a story about a father who was talking to some of his daughter's girlfriends in Canada. He turned to one girl and said, "you're worth about 30 cows!" Then he turned to her other friend and said, "you're about 15!" I know I would have been a bit peeved and mortified if I had been the girl worth 15 cows. Anyway, my friends were saying that if there are only daughters in a family, the father will normally ask for more cows to help take care of the family when the daughter goes away. Also, if she's educated and/or pretty, she'll get a higher offer of cows. My friends said that because I come from a family of three daughters, my dad would ask for a minimum of 15 cows. And because I have a college degree, I'd get another 10 cows (for those of you who doubt the worth of your college degree, it really is worth something - 10 cows!) And then he said because I'm a mazungu (foreigner) and pretty (gosh! flattery will get you everywhere!), I get another 10 cows each! Holy smokes, that's a whole 45 cows! My dad would be set for at least a couple decades with that kind of deal!
If you want to marry a girl out here in Malawi, you'll have to woo her with more than a diamond ring. In fact, you'll have to woo her whole family with cows! The more precious the girl is, the more cows she'll be offered. I heard a story about a father who was talking to some of his daughter's girlfriends in Canada. He turned to one girl and said, "you're worth about 30 cows!" Then he turned to her other friend and said, "you're about 15!" I know I would have been a bit peeved and mortified if I had been the girl worth 15 cows. Anyway, my friends were saying that if there are only daughters in a family, the father will normally ask for more cows to help take care of the family when the daughter goes away. Also, if she's educated and/or pretty, she'll get a higher offer of cows. My friends said that because I come from a family of three daughters, my dad would ask for a minimum of 15 cows. And because I have a college degree, I'd get another 10 cows (for those of you who doubt the worth of your college degree, it really is worth something - 10 cows!) And then he said because I'm a mazungu (foreigner) and pretty (gosh! flattery will get you everywhere!), I get another 10 cows each! Holy smokes, that's a whole 45 cows! My dad would be set for at least a couple decades with that kind of deal!
posted by kathleentse at 6:08 am
2 Comments:
Kathleen wins by 15!
I just happened upon your blog, I had it bookmarked somewhere. Glad to see that you're alive. I hope that you make it out of there. But I guess more importantly I pray that you'll really experience God in all the time that you're there.
I love the cow story. I wonder how many cows I'm worth, seeing that I'm male. Oh wait, I guess I'm not worth any cows since I don't get a dowry. Well, in that case, I'd love to have many sisters, just think of all the steak they would bring home ;)
Stay alive!
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