Well, here we are. We've been in Guatemala City almost a week now, staying with the Guatemalan branch of my family, and very welcoming they have been, they've even given us our own apartment!
It's been a busy week, mostly concerned with preparing for the main event of our trip, my cousin Vanessa's Wedding to Otto Avila. This has involved a fair amount of running around, and rather a lot of tying bows and cutting apples. There's also been a few parties to go to. On Wednesday we went to a pre-wedding party/bridal shower type thing at the house of my Aunts's second cousin, or something... Anyway, it was a big family gathering, and Hev and I were the only English people there, apart from Vanessa's friend David Sparks (not to be confused with my Uncle David, or his son, my cousin, David). Anyway, David Sparks speaks some Spanish, So Hev and were feeling a little at Sea.
Then Uncle David had one of his bright ideas...
He suggested that everyone around the table should stand up and give the happy couple a few words of advice. Apparently this included us. Fortunately, we were at the far end of the table and there were about thirty people there, so we had some time to think. It was Hev's turn before me, she stood up, explained (in English) that she hadn't understood a word that anyone else had said, and then gave one of her grins which allows her to get away with pretty much anything. If you know Hev then I think you'll know what I mean. So that was good fun, though slightly terrifiying. It was also the last of many pre-Wedding Parties.
Getting married in Guatemala seems to be rather a drawn out affair. As well the many pre-Wedding parties, there are two ceremonies, a civil Wedding, which is the legal bit with a lawyer, Then a seperate church ceremony and reception on a different day, which is the big affair.
On Thursday evening was the civil Wedding,which didn't involve any mass speeching-making exercises, though we did learn that you should never attempt salsa dancing on uneven surfaces when there are heavily pregnant ladies around for you to fall on. Apart from that,all went well.
Then came the big day on Saturday. everything went very well. The church service was lovely, (though there was a scary moment when the priest started grilling various members of the congregation to check that they had been listening).
Then onto the reception, which was in a beautiful garden setting, complete with a dance floor and Salsa band, as well as gorgeous food (and some English weather at one point, for which we apologised). it was a fantastic party, with some amazing Salsa dancing, and we even managed to dance a little without embarassing ourselves too much. A cracking good time was had by all, and Vanessa and Otto are now well and truly married, and all the best to the both.
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