The Wedding

On Thursday the four of us woke up a considerable distance from where the wedding would be held on Saturday. The four of us being myself, Christine, Andreea, and April. The latter being a friend of Andreea's. We woke up in an abbey near a 15th century monestary. We couldn't stay in the monestary, but the nun we spoke with arranged two rooms in a nearby house used by the nuns. We woke up early to attend mass. Mass was held in the ramparts rather in the main chapel. I wasn't sure if the chapel was used or if it was left along due to its historical significance. I also forgot to ask. We left mass early to see the chapel before the bus arrived. No one minded our early departure, and in fact one of the nuns signing the responses to the litany probably would've rather joined us. I noticed her leaning up against the wall and looking out the window between choruses. Later on outside, Christine and I both ran up with hopes of surprising the other with a tiny little frog we had found. The bitty frogs were everyewhere on the sidewalk and quite easy to scoop up. Since neither one of us was surprised, we let our two frogs run off and play together.

The bus system was in a state of flux and without any verified information we hitched a ride from a local that was used to serving as an impromptu cab. He only took us a short distance towards our goal. We arrived in doily town. In the front of the train station fifty women stood around displaying doilies of every make and model for pedestrians and cars passing along the main drag. Some women had large stacks of placemats and coasters and other useful odd and ends, while others held up only one or two especially beautiful table cloths with workmanship ranging from excellent to immaculate. They also served as a gauntlet for passing into the flea market. Once I braved the temptation of the doily hawkers I sought out a dress shirt for the wedding. Given my usual travel stylings I was not yet capable of looking presentable at the wedding. I found a decent shirt, although later I would find it was short sleeved. I had a large bill, a 500, so the shopkeep had to go next door for change. It was still early so he gave me five hundreds and the shirt and went back to work. I corrected the mistake and gave him a hundred. He slapped his head and told himself a lesson. The shirt was sixty, so of course he counted out sixty, gave that to me and kept forty. It was very early and he just laughed when I again corrected the mistake. There was time enough for breakfast before the train.

Around noonish we showed up in Suceava, still half a country away from the wedding. Christine and Andreea were in town running errands and April and I were in the park near the train station looking after the baggage and the puppy. Oh yeah, April dug up a puppy in the flea market. It was quite a find. He or she was hiding under a portable office with his or her brother or sister. The locals let us know that the puppy was a stray, that status being inherited from the mother, and had just stopped nursing. Mama Nell, Andreea's grandma and our host in Scarisoara was looking for a dog, and we were looking for some good karma. So I lorded over the baggage and April kept the violent children from getting too rough with the puppy. Sure they beat each other over the heads with water filled plastic bottles, but the puppy was too young to play that game. Soon enough, the four or rather five of us were on a train to Alba Julia. We had a sleeper car so the seats sort of folded down and somewhat allowed a comfortable position. Worrying about the puppy, which at this point I believe had been named Naroc, took up most of the time.

Friday, around four in the morning we showed up in Alba Julia. Andreea had an aunt that gave us a place to rest for two hours. After which we ate breakfast and Naroc played with another puppy and pottied everywhere, except on the other puppy, although Naroc did try. We grabbed another cab and transferred to a bus headed up into the mountains. After about thirty hours of travel since we left the monastery we arrived in Scarisoara the day before the wedding. I spent the day helping the dog get aquainted with its new life. I also had to take care of some personal grooming before tomorrow.

Saturday, with all of its anticipation, finally showed up. I had breakfast and then went off to get dressed up. My hiking boots as well as my daily khakis doubled as my sunday best and I borrowed a tie to accent my short sleeved shirt. I didn't want to miss a second of the wedding so I headed to Mama Nell's house. I never actually got inside the house. I'm not sure what was going on in there but I knew better then to get involved. The house had long since been over capacity. I waited outside on the porch tiring out the puppy and occasionally wandered through the yard harassing the rooster. He deserved it since he harasses the chickens to no end. I got very impatient but also had no other choice since I didn't want to miss anything.

The wedding began with everyone in Mama Nell's house, the bride's family, coming outside and getting very anxious. Antonia, Andreea's sister and the bride as well, remained outside. The three photographers were ready. One was hired, one was John who packed around a forty pound contraption, and one was Christine, wearing a dress that everyone adores but no one has the taste to pull off the rack. The bridesmaids were a bit tricky to spot. The dresses had somewhat of a theme, although I'm not sure what. Andreea's was fit for a flapper and she had the hairdo to match. Once everyone had sufficiently built up the suspense we heard them coming. There was a parade from the groom's house to the bride's house. Mihai, the groom, was carried in a horse drawn carriage, and led by his three groomsmen, already well on their way to a drunken stupor, riding horses in traditional costumes. Around all of this were a hundred folks dancing and cheering and a four piece folk band waking up anyone not in the know. The godfather made a traditional proposal to the man of the house and allowed passage. The gates to the front yard were opened and the entire assembly moved into the already crowded yard, continueing the revelry. Mihai made his request and the bride was fetched. As tradition goes, rather than Antonia, a little girl dressed up to be a bride is presented. Mihai is a bit reluctant and recalls her being taller. The child is placed on a stool to correct the matter. A few other problems are noted, but the child admits to being Antonia and admits to kissing Mihai at night by the river (I think. It was all in Romanian, and I was explained most of it before during and after and probably made up some as well). Eventually the attempt to pass off the young bride doesn't foil Mihai and Antonia is brought out. At this point, Mihai must help her and all of her wedding dress up and over the table with a shot of brandy in the middle. According to tradition, whether the brandy should or should not be spilled appears to be determined by whether or not the brandy is or is not spilled. In this case it was spilled - good luck. The next thirty minutes of memory are a bit out of order. There were pretty words exchanged. There was much music and dancing by the groom's side of the family. There was also much eating, although only by Christine, myself, and the little girl who will have to wait for another chance at marriage. The cookies, all made by hand in Mama Nell's kitchen, were too good to understand why we were the only ones filling our bellies with them, but those questions are best asked on a full stomach once we finished all the cookies.

The whole parade then sung and danced their way behind the carriage to the old church where most of the crowd attempted to step inside. The church, which I'm told is quite beautifully decorated inside, was unfortunately being renovated for preservation, but on the lighter side it kept our focus on the two folks getting married. The wedding began with words sung by the priest and responses echoed by two older gentlemen in a little corner of the room. The wedding then continued with the priest singing and ceremonialiying. Then the priest sang some more. Eventually I had nearly lost consciousness. It was difficult to focus since I didn't understand a word of it and nothing seemed to be happening. Being an orthodox church there were very few chairs and I had been standing for quite some time. I also had miscalculated how long all this would take and had not eaten for far too long. Fortunately the litany ended and the ceremony arrived just in time. The priest had his own words to say and the wedding party circled the altar three times and after a beautiful candle lit ceremony we all headed outside to enjoy the gorgeous day.

Now I was hoping I'd get to go back to Mama Nell's and get something to eat and relay, but instead we were all piling on to a bus. Christine and I ran off to get some juice, and my trip to the restroom nearly cost me my ride. After running to catch the bus and walked in to a schocking sight. The only available spot was the seat with my three friends. Every seat was seating at least three adults and a few kids and the isles were packed and we still picked up more people down the road. The band continued to play in the back of the bus and the driver floored it, reaching speeds that made me wonder if we would ever make it to the reception hall. Fortunately the first item on the agenda was food. The second was drinking and dancing. The third was food. The forth, more dancing. This was more or less the plan. In between all of this some toasts were made and the bride was stolen. She was eventually found, in a disco club I believe. There were a number of other traditions played out through the night, although I stayed focus on my task of eating and dancing. Eating was done by all, but more importantly, dancing was done by all. Old and young, everyone had something to say on the dancefloor. For twelve hours the reception hall lacked any and all inhabitions. The air of old fashioned revelry was a wonder to enjoy, but at 5 am my body was nearly in shock and I headed to an available room to make believe that a two hour nap would put me back on schedule. A few hours later we filled up the bus again and I headed back. Everyone got back to Mama Nell's in one piece. Andreea and I stayed up for an hour more because their were still some cookies left over. Christine, who opted out of the bus with a bit of a tummy ache, was there in spirit eating cookies with us. I don't remember going to sleep, but I'm sure I did.