Chris & Martina got married AGAIN last night — this time by a priest, in a church called Santa Catalina de Siena. It was great; I´ve been to quite a few weddings in the last few years, but until last night, none of them have been in a church. There were about 200 people in the audience, and the ceremony was in both English and Spanish. I even had a small function: I read one of the three “intenciones,” which are kind of like appeals to God. Mine was an appeal for world peace (we were told what to say in advance).
After the ceremony there was a reception in a large courtyard behind the church, and later there was a dance. Apparently it´s traditional in Argentina for the first dance of the night to be a waltz between the bride and her father only, but then the groom cuts in and takes her for the rest of the dance. The symbolism doesn´t really need any further explanation!
It was a brilliant evening — I had a load of fun, and didn´t get back to the hotel until about 4am. Getting up in time for check-out this morning was a bit of a challenge!
Today I have to retrieve my credit card from El General restaurant, bar and cultural center, where I accidentally left it the other day after eating a steak there. When I arrived, all of the patrons were singing an old fist-thumping military song about General Peron! After the meal, I met Nan & Crispian at a huge nightclub called Museum after which we played pool in a dive bar in San Telmo — that was a fun night too!
It´s hard to believe that my vacation in Argentina is almost over already — I fly back to New York tonight at 8:20pm. My time here has gone so quickly; I´ve had a really great time, and met lots of old and new friends.