The Wedding

Being of Hispanic heritage, in my case Mexican when it comes to "Quinceaneras" and Weddings we go way out of our way to have a nice and memorable time. To me a wedding is a big deal because within our family marriage means a life time commitment. We now live in an era where moral resposibilities are not top priority so when I'm invited to a wedding I always hope that the newly weds will make it and that maybe when they say "Until death do us part" they don't say it from their teeth out but instead from the depths of their Heart and Soul.

"Mi chica" and I have been invited to weddings before and for the most part they are all the same, once we even attended a Japanese Wedding, the ceremony was at a church or temple very similar to ours so it didn't feel too different, however the reception was something entirerly different, someone should have warned us to go on a super empty stomach because the meal consisted of, not one, not two, not three nor four but 18 courses, to this day my stomach has not forgoten that experience.

So this brings me to this weekend. Last night "mi chica" and I went to an Assyrian Wedding Reception. We were asked to be there between 6:30 p.m and 7:00 p.m. As a side note you should know that in my little world punctuallity is never at the top of my list but since this particular event was for close friends of "mi chica" we decided to be there early. Well I think we were the first ones to be there and it was already 6:45 p.m. when we got there. Luckily for us another couple we knew showed up almost at the same time.

We got to the hall and I tried to pull the doors open but to my surprise they were closed. However on the hall there were two tables with h'orderves and cheeses. As an attendant passed by I asked why the hall wasn't open and his reply was that we were to wait outside from 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 or 8:00 p.m., and then the door would be open for us to go into the hall. Us "Mexicanos" would knock the doors down before we have to wait but well at least the had the h'ourderves to keep us busy.

Finally at around 7:45 p.m. the doors were finally opened and we all went inside, the place was beautifully decorated, all tables and chairs were fully covered and a special section was set in front for the Bride and Groom and their court of honor. Well so far if was to compare Assyrian vs. Mexican, we were pretty close. (Note: "mi chica" tells me that they had been partying for five days already).

The bar opened and we all started getting drinks which in turn started building up the level of excitment, getting to know the people around us and and just basically getting ready to wait for the Bride and Groom to make their grand entrance into the hall. What I saw next I was not prepared to see, nobody warned me about the intensity of the next five or ten minutes as the MC started announcing in Assyrian (no English translations here) the name of the court of honor and eventually the newlyweds.

Every woman had a "Wedding Handkershief" which has these decorations all over the edge of it that when shaken make a chimmy noise, they also carried this very decorated I'll call them canes for lack of a better word. The music started and the court started passing through as the noise which I imagine was a plethora of good wishes would not die down. I got chills and goosebumps because the unity and happiness of the Assyrian community was very evident. (And I thought us Mexicans were loud).

After a wonderful meal, choice of chicken or beef and the endless mixed drinks. The dance started and again although I had seen similar celebrations portrayed on TV, I was not even close to being prepared at the level of fun and unity. I don't know what they call their dance but for the sake of explaining to you I'll call it "line dancing". Everyone held hands together, it doesn't matter weather you are male of female, to form the chain we, were all one and we danced to the rhytms of a music that was totally foreing to me, words that unlike French, or Italian, or Portugese were I can understand enough to grasp the meaning of the sentence, this would lose me totally as to me it's just a sound. However the rhytm was awesome and iviting and dancing to these sounds came extremely easy for us.

Well all in all, a different kind of celebration with tons of excitement and fun, food and liquor, oh and don't forget cigarette smoke. Let me tell you those cigarette ashtrays were full to the max. One thing that I have learned from this experience is that Assyrians like Mexicans know how to party.

I thank our friends for inviting us to this wedding and for "mi chica" and I, it was an honor to be a part of this celebration.