So...I went to a wedding

So for my second weekend in B.A., I went to a wedding!  It was for my host mom’s ex-daughter-in-law…or perhaps another relative after (like her sister, or cousin) in any case, it was a slightly extremely extended invitation. Inés told us that her mom, her 9-year-old granddaughter Valentina, and herself were going and we were more than welcome to go with her.  She also told us that because it was a Catholic wedding, it would be part mass and part wedding.  That’s what turned Yelena off to going, but I wouldn’t have cared if it was a Jewish wedding, a Hindu wedding, a Protestant wedding, whatever—it was a cultural experience that neither IES nor any other school program can give you!

So first thing I noticed that isn’t really typical in the States: the ceremony was on Saturday night, at 8:30.  So we get there at 8:30, walk into the church, and see that the ceremony is almost over.  After being utterly confused, Inés walked closer to the front to see what was going on (the place was pretty crowded) and she came back to tell us that it was not the bride we were looking for.  So we walked back out into the courtyard and Inés asked a guy (who was ridiculously tall…like at least 7’ if not more!) when the wedding we wanted was supposed to be (he was apparently waiting for the same wedding) and so he told us he supposed it hadn’t started yet and it would after the one in the church now.  So with that in mind, we went into a mall that was about a quarter block away because Blanca needed to buy a birthday gift for someone for the birthday party that was the next day.  She didn’t end up buying anything, she kept saying how expensive things were and Inés kept saying how they really weren’t that expensive.  Inés also kept converting the prices into US Dollars, and I was kind of surprised by that.

We were at the mall for about half an hour and then we went back to the church to see the status on the other wedding.  It was about 9:15 now and the other group was talking in the courtyard while some guests of our wedding had already gone inside.  So we went inside and immediately there is a difference—Inés and Blanca know people here.  That was a big thing that was bothering Inés about the first wedding: she didn’t know anyone that was there.  So we sat down and she started chatting away with…everyone.  But, that’s just what you do.  You sit and chat and catch up with people, and of all the conversations I listened to, not one of them were about the bride and groom.  Everyone who was there was obviously happy for them, and so you didn’t need to waste any small talk on them, especially if you haven’t seen these people in a while.  So at about 9:30 music started, people stood up and turned around, and in came the bride.  No bridesmaids, no flower girls, no ushers, just the bride and her dad (well, at the very least a male).  Also, they walked really quickly.  I feel like in the States, the walk down the aisle is somewhat suspenseful, here it was nothing special…at all. 

When the bride got to the end of the aisle, she and the groom sat down so the priest could open in prayer.  After he prayed, the groom’s sister went up and led a prayer (I know it was the groom’s sister because I met her afterward and that’s how she introduced herself).  Then the bride and groom stood up and did some sort of ceremonial thing (I wish I could be more detailed, but my wedding-words vocabulary is a little thin, and I couldn’t actually see what was going on), then sat back down so the priest could do his homily. After the homily, the couples stood back up and did their vows; after that the priest started preparing for communion and then the couple had their first communion together as husband and wife.  Then the rest of the congregation (who were willing and able) were allowed to take communion as well.  After that, there was probably a short prayer, and then we all clapped for the happy couple who had just been married. 

They walked pretty swiftly back down the aisle, but this time they got a little sidetracked by people who wanted to hug and kiss them.  For the people that missed their chance as the couple walked by, there was no need to fear because the next part of the wedding was to stand in the courtyard and talk with people and congratulate the couple.  THIS is where people talked more about the couple than themselves…but still only about 50% of the conversation was about the wedding.  As far as I know there was no reception afterwards, but the thing is, I’m pretty sure this was a second marriage for each of them.  They both looked like they were in their late thirties or perhaps early forties, and so I don’t know how this compares to a first wedding.  The whole thing lasted about 45 minutes to an hour—it was really, really short.  So my point is, I would like to see another wedding for a couple that’s getting married for the first time…but I don’t know how realistic of a hope that is. 

Anyway, after the wedding we went back to the mall to grab some dinner, which was Subway for Valentina and Burger King for the rest of us.  At dinner, Valentina explained to Blanca and Inés how Subway works (I don’t think they’d ever been before) and how you get to pick your bread, and then the fillings, and the toppings, and the sauces, and everything like that, and how every day of the week has their own special sub and so if you get that sub it’s cheaper.  And so when we were leaving, we picked up some punch cards, and the guy was kind enough to stamp the first one, even though we hadn’t eaten there…or all of us hadn’t.  And so on the fourth stamp, you get to upsize your drink, and on the eighth one, you get a free 15cm sub. Yep, 15cm or 30 cm, no 6 in or foot-long.  And so Valentina gave me a little map that showed Subways, and there’s actually one RIGHT by my UCES class and so I figure if I don’t want to wait to get dinner, I can just head over to Subway, and the sub of the day on Wednesday? Chicken Teriyaki. Oh yeah.  So I’m pretty sure that’ll be my plan on Wednesday nights. 

So after the mall, we went to drop off Valentina at her mom’s place, and while we were in the car, she gave me another thing from Subway that has more addresses for more Subways in a greater area than the other map she had given me.  She really is a super sweet girl, and I like her a lot.  She speaks Spanish as her first language and she’s learning English.  And I don’t quite remember if I explained this at all, but if I did mention that we ate dinner with Inés’ son and his daughter, his daughter is Valentina and Sebastian is Inés’ son.  So because we ate dinner with them Friday night, we had eaten with Sebastian and Valentina twice now, so we were pretty familiar with each other.  And earlier that day (Saturday) Valentina put on a “game” show for the four of us (Blanca, Inés, Yelena, and me) where we had to do things like balance pencils on the backs of our hands, then try to throw them up and catch them, or drop pencils into a box from above, or answer trivia questions she made up on the spot—it was a lot of fun actually…not to mention it kind of reminds me of me, and what we did as kids to entertain our parents/grandparents.  But we had to cut the game show short because people had phone calls to make and places to be—which is a bummer, I would have stayed until it was over.

So anyways, we dropped off Valentina at her mom’s and we got out of the car and were chatting with her a bit.  Also, she bought a dog about 4 months ago and so for the first time in a long time, I was able to pet a dog again.  Now, this dog.  It was pretty small, if you know the size of my dog, it was about 2/3 the size of him…if you don’t know the size of my dog, well my dog is 15 pounds, so this dog was about 10 pounds.  So it’s pretty little, but it’s fur!  Its fur was like, 5 or 6 inches long!  And while anyone held it, it would kind of melt into whatever shape would best fill the space it was in.  It was like a water baby dog.  I’m pretty sure it didn’t have any bones.  It was super cute though!...just a little unstable.

Side note: there are so many dogs here. Seriously.  It seems like most of them have owners, and I don’t really know where they keep them all…but there are so many.  It’s not uncommon to see a person (a dog-walker I can only presume) walking 8 to 10 dogs at a time.  Also, most of the dogs here that are walking with their owners are not on leashes.  They’re free to do what they want, and they stop and sniff things occasionally, but then they go and continue walking with their owners.  I was at the bank the other day and I saw this girl walk up with a very small dog (on a leash).  She wanted to come into the bank and so I was interested to see where/how she tied her dog up.  Then, she just picked up her dog, opened the door, and walked into the bank.  Ok, wasn’t ready for that one.  But my point is, dogs are everywhere and I wish we had one in the apartment.  But also, like I’m pretty sure I’ve said before, owners are not required to pick up after their dog.  So a very very real caution is: look out for dog poop.  It’s on every sidewalk, everywhere.  I was reading an article in the paper about some new problems in BsAs and some old ones, I have experienced all of them.  Unfortunately, I cannot find the article to quote it, and I don’t remember it well enough to give you more than 2 of the 8 problems.  I remember two of the old problems (old as in, they’ve been around a while) as dog poop (and they said that the necessity of cleaning up after your dog has been an issue in mayoral elections), and smoking.  Everyone here (it seems) smokes.  So many people.  I think another one may have been overcrowded buses…but I may just be adding my own discomforts to the list…

So anyways, back to the story.  After dropping off Valentina, we went to go get gas.  Now, at this point it’s about 11:45 or so, and we get to the gas station and we’re sitting in line.  That’s fine.  However, the line is like, 10 to 12 cars long and there are only 3 stations at which you can fill up your car (actually they fill it up for you here).  So we’re waiting, and waiting, and waiting. And FINALLY it’s our turn.  It’s about 12:15 now.  Of course, Blanca and Inés were just chatting away, there was not one single comment about how long it was taking. So I guess that’s just the way it is here. After filling up the tank, she gets her tires filled (well, they weren’t empty…so I guess topped off? I don’t really know car terminology…) and then we head home.  So we left for the wedding at about 8:15 and we didn’t get back until 12:30…and the ceremony only lasted about an hour.

Now, I felt kind of bad because Inés told me that the wedding would probably be over by 10:30 (which it was) but I didn’t factor in the rest of the things we had to do, and so I told Yelena I’d probably be back by 10:30 or so—which was important because we had made plans with some friends to go out at 11.  Well, I didn’t bring my phone with me to the wedding because I have no compact and a little bit elegant bag that would have been appropriate.  So I had no way of telling her that I wouldn’t actually be able to go…and as it got later and later I felt worse and worse.  But it ended up being fine I guess, we didn’t go out, but she was able to relax and watch some TV while we were gone.  But back-tracking a little bit, earlier that Saturday, we had gone out to the neighboring neighborhood where there was a little market (the one that happens every Saturday and Sunday).  We met up with some of Yelena’s friends who I had never met, and had lunch with them.  It was honestly, kind of boring.  The other two girls talked with each other the whole time, Yelena was on her phone most of the time, and so I just sat there and ate my food…listening to a conversation that didn’t pertain to me at all.  When we got to the market it was a little more fun, they always have cool things to look at.  But Yelena walks so fast, and I like to stop and examine things, so we actually got separated for a bit.  But I did see some other friends at the market, and we said hi, and later we all ended up going to get more food.  Well, they hadn’t eaten yet, so they got food and Yelena and I got milk shakes—which were so good!  But anyways, it was really fun hanging out with them and talking, and so that was where the plans to go out came from.  Well, as you’ve read, it didn’t happen, but it was still nice that the plans happened and we knew how to get to where we wanted to go.

So that was my Saturday, Friday and Sunday were pretty uneventful…and now classes start this week!  This week I will have every single one of my classes that I’ll be taking in BsAs (which is nice because some partner universities haven’t started yet).  So hopefully after this week I’ll know more of what my schedule will look like and I’ll be able to start making a routine.

Well, it’s 11:30am now…I don’t have class until 1:30, I guess I should start getting ready for the day?  Changing out of pajamas would be a good start I think. :p

Chau!

Kiki

P.S. What's this? I wrote an entry and posted it all in the same day? Yay IES internet!  Also, it was pouring today, and I remembered my umbrella. Oh yeah.