A wedding

Seeing as how peace corps volunteers live in their respective countries for 2 or sometimes 3 years, they meet people from the country that they live in. Most become acquaintances, some become friends, some become a boyfriend or girlfriend…and then there are those special times when you find your soul mate and decide to marry them. That just happened to a volunteer here in Ecuador…and unfortunately it is not me (still searching ha ha). It happened to be my friend Laura (who lived in the same community as me-Pesillo-during our training days) and I honestly could not be happier for her. I had never been to a wedding in Ecuador…especially one with a gringa marrying an Ecuadorian, so going in I was thinking it was going to be an experience. Boy was it ever.

The wedding was located in Puyo, the largest city in the Ecuadorian oriente (Amazon region), just on the cusp on the Amazon rain forest. There is nothing like the beauty of the rainforest and the ride from the highlands dropping into the rainforest is really breathtaking. The energy within the volunteers who made it was palapable, you could feel it in the air. Plus to top it off…I was asked to be an usher…you know I didn´t turn down THAT opportunity. It was a catholic ceremony and was surprisingly short and to the point although it was done all in Spanish and I am not sure some of Laura´s family and friends could understand it. That is beside the point however because actions have more meaning than words. Fast forward to the reception…my work is done and its time to get to the speeches. Only in a wedding like this do you get the bride, groom, maid of honor, and best man´s speeches translated by one of the volunteers (good job Lydia!). I don´t why…but I found this unforgettable, the groom´s speech was especially good. Then came the first dance ( a slow dance with a mix of bachata…because its Ecuador) and the booze starts flowing. You know it is an Ecuadorian wedding when the caterers are giving out shots of whiskey and water and we are gathered around in a circle dancing or talking and that the standard wedding gift was 20 dollars in a envelope (hey, we make 300 dollars a month, what do you expect?). Back to the shot giving, that is how we drink in Ecuador, no one has their individual drink, there is one selected person who serves you a shot of beer, wine, or hard stuff in a cup and then it gets passed to the next person in the circle. It gets a little getting used to…but now I don´t know of another way to drink! Anyways, meeting the groom´s family and friends was fun, his family is from the coast (esmereldas, where the population is predominately afro-ecuadorian) and Columbia, though he is Ecuadorian and they relocated to Puyo. There is a unjustified stereotype of Columbians in Ecuador and I was happy to let them know that no, I don´t think you are a criminal and I just want to be your friend.

Overall, the wedding was a blast and I hope for the best Laura and Rodrigo… que el matrimonio dure para siempre.