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Awake, yes, awake. Sitting in an Argentinean house, with
mate
in my belly, the day is rekindled from a spell of tiredness
after a night of dancing, meeting new beautiful people, and
drinking the night away in Buenos Aires.
I’m at the groom’s house waiting to attend a wedding
of one my new friends.
We have met through mutual friends from Roma, Italia. My friends
from Rome have invited me along, and with enough frequent
flyer miles and vacation to spare there certainly wasn’t
a reason not to go!
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Brandon (far right) and the Armani-suit clad wedding group
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The wedding ceremony began at 21:00! It seems crazy to me
but it’s custom to catch sleep when time allows, and
stay awake as long as there is life to live! As we approach
the betrothed hour, we all retire momentarily to our hotel
to change into our finest threads. In my backpack I have managed
to bring a nice buttoned down shirt, a pull over sweater,
and a pair of black slacks. When I emerged to meet up with
my friends from Italy, I was shocked and embarrassed for the
way I was dressed when I all of them wearing Armani suits!
Not only that, they were all wrinkle free! Nevertheless, we
took off for the cute little white church in the center of
Parque Rosa, some 100 kilometers south of Buenos Aires.
The organ chimed as the wedding began. The groom walked down
the aisle and stood in front of the priest with both of his
parents at his side. As the bride walked in led by her father,
tears streamed down the groom’s face. The ceremony was
very formal, with only the immediate family participating.
It was short and sweet. Afterward we had several photos taken,
and the embarrassment of my clothes had completely vanished
as no one even seemed to care. Plus the excitement of the
impending reception swirling our minds!
When we arrived, the drinks and a beef appetizers, the Argentinean
staple, began being delivered to us on platters by waitresses.
We had been assigned tables, with ours being dubbed the “international
table.” We sat down and were greeted with bottles of
champagne and our main course, more beef! We had a steak,
a side dish of beef cutlets, and potatoes wrapped in a slab
of meat like a burrito.
Then the bride and groom arrived to take the first dance of
the night. As they were dancing two lines formed, one line
of women and the other of men. After a few songs the bride
and groom walked over to the line and grabbed a dance partner
at the front of each line and proceeded to do this until the
line was gone. Then, the parents joined in and the music really
began thumping and everyone poured onto the dance floor. At
first I was content watching everyone else dance when suddenly
a group of Argentinean women converged onto our table and
reached a hand out to each one of us. Sitting feeling shy
and reluctant I downed my drink for a jolt of confidence and
got up to dance the night away!
Very soon I could feel the electricity of the place. Everyone
was dancing, young and old! The girls were passively leading
us (to make it look as if we were leading them), so we could
dance the tango. At around two in the morning the dancing
stopped, and we sat back down at the table only to be served
another meal, which of course was more beef! We then got right
back up and danced well into the daylight. I’m not sure
what time it was when we left, but it had been daylight for
several hours, and the place was still almost full. Even the
parents and grandparents were dancing the day away as we drove
off to settle in for a day of sleeping! |
Travel Writers: An Argentinian Wedding
