A rapid succession of posts will follow, as I recall memories of the flurry that was the last two weeks. First...BRAZIL!!!!
After sitting in Pretoria, South Africa for a few days (read - spending heaps of cash because food and drinks were cheaper than American prices, and it was so nice to have fine foods in a pleasant atmosphere), I flew to Sao Paulo on Thursday, the 17th. Not a bad flight with South African Airlines, on a new Airbus340-800. Inflight movies included Apocolytpo (Mel is the new Kevin Costner "Quit while you're ahead Mel!"), a South African indie film, a chick flick, an action flick. 10 hours of brain damage...
I arrived in Sao Paulo, and Cleia, who works in a different city, didn't have the day off, so her brother picked me up. Her brother who's wedding I was invited to the next day, who didn't speak any English, just Portuguese. It was fine, we hit it off well, and he took me to his place, where I met his (also Cleia's) parents, and we chatted for hours in Portuguese-English-German (Mrs. dos Santos is a German immigrant's daughter).
Friday, Jordan arrived from the airport, and Cleia went to pick him up, and ask if he would stand up in the wedding with her, due to an unfortunate cancellation by another friend. Then, we were off to have Jordan's tuxedo fitted and finally left late for the drive to Cleia's house for the night. Cleia works at a university, and lives just off campus. We arrived at her house really late, ate spaghetti, talked until 1 AM, met her roommates, crashed.
Saturday morning, we got up for a nice pancake breakfast with the maple syrup Jordan had brought Cleia as a gift, and then scrambled to get ready for church. Cleia is a 7th Day Adventist, so her church services are held on Saturday, and she works at a religious university, so the church there is quite big, and was worth visiting.
After church, we rushed to pack, got a ride to the bus, and bussed to Campinhas, where Cleia's uncle and aunt live. An incredible formal dinner ensued (secret salad, casseroles, incredible chocolate moussey desert , wow. The meal (and the lack of sleep, jet lag, etc.) required a nap, after which we got ready for the wedding and drove to Sao Paulo.
The wedding started at 8 pm, but when we arrived at 8:15, Cleia's sister and brother-in-law (not the bride and groom) weren't there with my suit (no biggie), and Jordan's tux (important). There we were, dirts in T-shirts, creeping into the back door of a church and hoping for the best. After a hurried dressing (the bride was sitting in the limo out front the whole time), I sat with some nephews and nieces I had met, and the procession started.
Words can not describe the grandeur of this wedding. Chamber orchestra in the loft, a different piece for each entry, 12 pairs of attendants, a bridal train more than 5 meters long, candles, a tenor solo of the Lord's Prayer...
The reception started at 10ish, in a wedding hall covered in flowers, with a full disco dance floor (lasers, lights, music videos). Hors d'ouvres everywhere, waiters in tuxes, host bar, only one speech (yes! speeches are the stupidest part of any reception), photo slide show, dancing, a pasta dinner at 12:45 am, desserts at 2, party favours, sunglasses, boas, glow sticks, and a surprise visit from the King. Yes, Elvis was in the building. Oh, and I met Ronaldo, and Roberto Carlos was there....
OK, so it was Ronaldo, Cleia's cousin, and Roberto Carlos the singer, who was only there by music video projection, but it truly felt like we had all-access passes to some celebrity fete. Brazilians know how to party. We pulled out at 4, only because our ride was leaving, and we had to be on a flight to Rio at 9. What a night... pictures are on Facebook, and will be on google photos soon.
Next post - Rio
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