Getting Married in Kampala

In case you ever thought that getting married in a foreign country is difficult, well let me tell you, it is.
Well this is not entirely true. Although the process is laid out in front of you it is surprising how many things can come up along the way.
For us the biggest obstacle was obtaining a document that stated I have never been married and/or not currently married at this time, which many of you may or may not know, but this document doesn’t really exist in the United States. So like any good foreigner living abroad I went to my US embassy to find out what to do. They had this pre-fab document that I filled out and signed and the consular notarized it. This document is saying that I am swearing that I am not married (the US government cannot guarantee that this is true).
Along with all the other requested documents, we sent it on up to Kampala. A few days or weeks later when we had thought things were going well we found out from their state’s attorney that this document from the US embassy will not be accepted. They do not accept from any foreign US embassy, only from the United States. Now I tried to explain that since I had been residing in Rwanda, I can’t really get this document from the US, let alone that this doesn’t exist.
Well, where this is a will, there is a way.
With my mom’s help(BIG help) and frequent calls and trips to the local county registrar’s office we were able to get some letter saying that I have not been married in Bucks County. Now the hardest part was that earlier I had been mugged and lost my State ID, so proving that I was ‘from’ PA was not so easy. But somehow we found a photocopy of my ID that they were willing to accept. It should be noted that I even called from Rwanda to stress how I’m not in the country, hence my mom doing it for me. After the county issued this letter, my mom then drove to Harrisburg to get a certificate of something from the state’s attorney saying the county is allowed to issue the document, essentially it was a letter with a really nice stamp and seal, and we all know in Africa they love their stamps and seals.
In the end these letters were DHLed to me and then forwarded on to Kampala. After our photos had been posted and therefore formally announcing our intentions to get married(yes they do a downgraded form of reading the bans to see if anyone objects) we were allowed to get married.
Since both of us work we had to do it on a weekend, but wait they don’t work on weekends, so a Friday it was. We decided to go for October 1st. I kindof like it 10.1.10 pretty cool date if I might say so myself. We took a bus up to Kampala on Thursday. Friday mid-morning we went and waited and found out we were the only ones getting married at that time (sometimes they do multiple weddings at once). The lady who officiated even was like I’m sorry I forgot I have another meeting so we have to make this quick. Literally under 5 minutes. HA. gotta love it. Maxon’s best friend and one of his sisters were our witnesses.
On Saturday we went out to his village to see his parents and other sisters and nieces and nephews who were around to celebrate with them.
Then we rushed back on Saturday night on Kampala Coach to return to Rwanda.
Well Kampala Coach-great buses. Real good for sleeping, unless there is a preacher man who wants to stand in the isle and preach starting at like 11 pm(we boarded at 10pm). After much arguments, and I mean arguments that both of us were personally involved in, the man FINALLY ceased and sleep could happen.
Overall a quick little trip up to Uganda, but an important one.