Marriage in Guinea

Guinean marriages aren't like what we experience in the United States. Here in the US both the man and the woman agree to be wed after the man proposes and after they get to know each other. In Guinea that isn't the case, the woman has complete authority in the decision to be wed because, as an elderly man told me, "Love comes first to heart of the woman, only after it has entered her can it come to the man." So if the woman wants to be wed with a man she will prepare a distinct fish meal, (distinct because of the red palm oil it is marinated in) give the meal to the man and after he eats it she will propose. For us men here that can be good and also bad because once she proposes you don't have a choice except to say yes to her. Also in your no choice marriage the woman is given unquestionable authority in the marriage. I prefer the way that we marry in the US by a long-shot.