An eventful week, at least by Lake standards. Sometime mid week I headed out east of Chapala to explore and found a couple of small villages and a nice development around a golf course. At one point the mountains drop off fairly sharply to the lake and some of the views are breathtaking blending the lake, mountains and foliage. I included some pics, but will go back and take more with the big camera.

Then Friday my neighbor and I headed into GDL to visit Home Depot and WalMart, we got in and out before the traffic socked in, so that worked out well. Then my technology caved in for its bi-annual crisis. The wireless that I was trying to extend out to the casita wasn’t reaching, even after upgrading to a new wireless router it didn’t make it and after a day or two it began to look like the laptop, not the access point is the problem. 

Saturday morning the weather station server decided it needed a password to sign in? – never had one for the last year, so it was a long day finding a back door to get around that and reconstruction of the Windows system, then another 3 hours Sunday to get it back to “online” status and the wireless problem still isn’t fixed – but we got weather.

The big event (and surprise) for the week was Margaret and I getting invited to a wedding of the fellow that does maintenance on our houses. We were honored, but at a loss to know exactly what to expect, so I went to the forum and got some good advice – primarily, it’s not nearly as formal or structured as NOB, so have fun and enjoy – and I’d say that covered it pretty well. 

David and his wife were married in a civil ceremony years ago and have 6 kids, but now are members of a non-denominational Christian church here in Chapala and wanted to be married in the church – is that great or what?

Actually, this has some distinct advantages starting with having all the candle lighters, flower girls, brides bridal gown train handlers (whatever) etc. built into, and available from, the family And I think there was also a new arrival to pass around at the reception for all the mothers to hold including Grandma Margaret, but I digress. 

Per the apparent typical Mexican wedding which was at 4pm we arrived at 3:55 just as the groom arrived and the bride in a separate car, so we weren’t late. We went inside and met a couple from Corpus Christi that live near us and talked for some time as more and more kids (and some adults) arrived. About 4:30 we were invited to sit down and pretty soon the festivities began.

The church is a simple building, but full of love of the Lord which is the real purpose of a church structure. The Pastor (I believe his name is Raul) is a character. He’s a short rather round Mexican fellow born in Chicago and grew up in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He’s been in Chapala for 8 years now ministering to a small congregation and an orphanage with some 40 kids (some of the many at the wedding). The large open room was setup as seating for the church in the front half of the church and the other part with tables as the reception area for the reception. 

This being my first Mexican wedding (and Margaret’s) we just took pictures and enjoyed and watched. Probably the biggest thing is that it’s much less formal or structured. After the traditional entry of the bride with flower girl and train bearers they met at the altar and sat down in two chairs placed in front of the wedding table. Now, this was a bit unusual, but had a practical purpose, you see they knew how long the activities were going to last – and sure enough, they were right, chairs were a great idea.

Pastor Raul is a man of many talents, he began the service with a greeting and then proceeded to pick up a guitar and entertain with several songs (Spanish, so I don’t know?) accompanied by another man on guitar and a lady. Once through this part he came back down to the wedding table and whipped out what appeared to be a Blackberry or something similar containing his notes for the sermon and service – is this great? 

Now, I have to say this fellow took full advantage of an audience and preached a full sermon on marriage – and it was as good as I’ve heard in some time and in two languages at that! He is funny, interjecting humor and holding his congregation, we laughed many times, he could do a killer standup comedy act.

As I said, this is unstructured and informal, so there were a number of people young and older taking pictures and video from all angles, all the time, including behind the pastor as he was performing the service, it was almost a service in the round. We were surprised that much of the service was in English as there were only 4 of us gringos in the audience, but everyone was enjoying the service in both languages. 

There are several points where members of the family become involved as the Mexican tradition is heavily family. At one point I believe his parents came up and placed a white “lasso” around them and prayed with and for them. At another point later in the service a lady brought forward two silk pillows for them to kneel on and later a young lady brought a beautiful white bible for them, so it’s a very open ceremony all the time surrounded by people taking pictures (I even took a couple from the side myself).

Eventually the nuptials were completed and they kissed and everyone cheered and clapped and they came back up the aisle as the Mariachis played. Everyone sort of gathered in the middle and talked and threw rice etc. and then we were all seated. 

The next tradition is the dance where the mariachis play and the bride and groom dance and in this case when someone wants to dance with either, they placed an offering in a basket and cut in. In some traditions they actually pin money to the bride or grooms clothing. Now, being an all time bad dancer, and the brides dress being floor length, I could envision a potential disaster, so I passed. Margaret and I had contributed our portions of the dance and wedding gift in an envelope – much safer and less potential for an international cultural incident I figured.

After a time the food service began. It was very good although simple including pork, chicken, tortillas cooked as we stood in line and a number of side dishes. The flavoring of the food was very good and varied and we enjoyed it.

During all the activities the kids were knee deep, the photographers (including me) were taking pics and nothing is hurried or stressed or choreographed – it’s just a big happy group of folks enjoying the day together - actually very nice and refreshing. 

Again time passed and it was cake cutting time and the kids flocked around reminding me of feeding fish in a pond – just solid kids, they were having a great time. Just before this happened, David’s 14 year old son came around with the new baby and of course Margaret had to hold it, so I was busy watching the cake cutting and got some good pics and when I went back to the table she asked “what’s happening?” – I said they had cut the cake and she missed it, but she was having fun. As guests of honor we were served cake which was scrumptious and exceptional, baked and decorated by a young lady who was pointed out to us.

I did have to laugh, very few if any men have beards here and the tiny kids keep looking at me like I'm a bit strange (perceptive aren't they?) Pastor Raul said they wonder if you're Santa - hey, I'm way too skinny for that, but it was funny.

Finally we headed out and congratulated David and his lovely new bride with hugs and handshakes. As we started out of the area we met several fellows on horses riding along the streets (I think it a macho Sat night thing for the guys) – and we made our way back to the compound. 

A great week, day and event, something to be remembered to be sure. Pictures at Mexcala and MX Wedding in the left column - enjoy, I did.

And I guess one more thing I need to note as I write this, today is 30 years to the day since I met Chris in Chicago and she would have loved every minute of this – and for those who knew her you can see her out there poking pesos in the basket dancing with David – right?