Another Wedding...

One of the men in my class Dewa invited me to his wedding reception... He told me the party was to be held at his home - not his parents... though he said 'you may not want to come, my home is bad, not like the hotel.' Now, since I have been here I have seen many places that when seen through western eyes - would be considered 'less' however, my time here has taught me to look through fresh eyes, the eyes of a child. I stopped the conversation and asked him if there was love in his home... surprised he said well yes... Then your home can never be bad - if there is love there.

Candidly I was quite surprise by the invite... especially when he told me he would come pick me up at the hotel. My thoughts raced...first thought NO WAY am I getting on the back of one of those motorcycles (not going to happen) second thought women are women no matter what country - and if my husband on our wedding day went to a hotel to pick up some strange blond woman... I would be angry. So thinking fast I asked if I could bring someone... thinking of my friend Yohanes, that way I could make an appearance and leave when I wanted. He said of course.

I talked with Yohanes and he graciously agreed to accompany me. It turns out that none of the hotel staff had been invited - only me... not to sure why I was invited, but did hear that others were a little offended at not being invited.

Sunday afternoon, we hired a cab and headed to Dewa's house... took about 1/2 hour we had a little trouble finding the house... When we got out of the cab an older gentleman came running out of the house and asked with a thick accent... you miss carol... I smiled; he introduced himself as Dewa's father and pulled me into the house. Turns out the bride and groom weren’t there - they had left to see her father a tradition, that is done the day before the wedding but something else had come up... so they went today...

So here I am at the reception surrounded by a room full of people who don’t speak any English with the exception of Dewa's father whose English skills are 25% at best. I received a tour of the house...true confession time... I had prepared myself for what Dewa referred to as 'bad' in my minds eye - dirt floor, corrugated tin roof etc. this could not be further than where I was... it was large, 2 stories and sparsely furnished. The outside of the house was neutral in colour, surprisingly the inside of the home was painted in bright bold colours reminded me of a Mexican fiesta.

There was of course no air-conditioning and it was quite warm inside, so I opted to sit out on the front patio. It was a large space with a cement pond, complete with goldfish.

For an hour we sat waiting for Dewa - it was so warm I was feeling ill, the parents kept trying to feed us... but after getting so sick after the wedding in Bandung I couldn’t take the chance - I have a busy week. Finally Dewa's father said we will try to call him... a few moments later they handed me the phone... Dewa is apologizing profusely, telling me he is so sorry and embarrassed and ashamed he is not there - I assured him his family had taken good care of me... he offered to rush back... no I told him, I have to get back to the hotel.

So that was it - I sat for over an hour in a group of people and we could not communicate. It is a good thing that smiling is universal.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed a mall... so of course I had to stop and pick up a few things... My latest discovery Bandrek - Ginger tea... very strong ginger tea... but good... Also discovered these mints... very different taste, I looked at the ingredients - barley and mint... very pleasant taste... so got a couple of bags to bring home with me...

Tomorrow begins the end of my stay - the next week will zoom by...