May as well ramble on about what i got up to on the weekend then. On Saturday night we went to a dinner party for the 40th birthday of a gay friend of Marcela's who works at an organisation Marcela volunteers for. He is a psychologist and his partner (husband? they are married) is an artist - they have a huge, amazing, elegant apartment with 4.5m high ceilings, chandeliers and not one but TWO grand pianos, a private patient room for him and an art studio for him (the other him)... even though it was a 40th dinner party, we were relatively early arriving at 10pm, and one of the first to leave at 2:30am... we left to go to a bar to meet up with a mate of mine Pat (a Canadian guy who lives near me and is doing the same course as me but not in the same class)... the bar was called Mundo Bizarro and I had been recommended it by others for the good music, great cocktails and 50's decor and lowbrow rock'n'roll artwork... it was all that but the music was a bit disappointing on that particular night, but will definitely be going back there.
On Sunday night was the wedding of a friend of Marcela's - yes Sunday April the 1st (remember Monday was a public holiday), and no, April Fools Day isn't celebrated here!! I hope it is a good omen for them being married on 1st of the 4th. Being a light traveller I didn't happen to pack a suit in the backpack, but the opportunity to witness an Argentinean wedding was too good to refuse so I bought a suit and shirt for the occasion (at the bargain price of AU$100 for the whole outfit I might add!).The above pic is L-R: Marina (Marcela's best friend); me (check my tan!!!); and Marcela.
It certainly was a big, elaborate, fun, strange and long night of celebrations. It was more of a party than a wedding really. There was a short ceremony at about 10pm (of course I didn't understand a word, but it wasn't religious at all- just the I do's, rings and signatures etc). The signing of the registry was just for show, as they legally got married a few days before in the office of a judge to small fanfare. That is the only way to get officially married here, in the presence of a judge who witnesses it all and signs the papers, during working hours. Most weddings here are just parties held a day or two after they have officially been married.
So it was a huge night with fantastic food, an endless supply of alcohol and plenty of crazy dancefloor action. No expense was spared at all - the venue, decorations, waitstaff, food, drinks, music, lighting etc were all top notch, A1, perfecto (you get the picture - I shudder to think how much it would have cost, for there were at least 100 guests). Although the venue was very formal - an English gentlemens sporting club - the intent of the bride and groom was to have an informal, party atmosphere throughout the night. So the traditional hall was funked up with cool lighting and mirrorballs, and the outside eating areas consisted of comfy couches and tables overlooking the croquet lawns and pool (unfortunately it was raining so there was to be no croquet that night...), and the dress code was cocktail so the blokes just wore open-necked suits.The above pic is Marcela's work colleagues with the bride - they are all psychologists...
After countless rounds of immaculate food (think hors dóevres, then sushi, then starters, then a huge roast beef carved off the bone, then more hors dóevres, then the mains of seafood pasta, then pork and vegetable pie type thing, then dessert) I was more than full because I had made the mistake of thinking the roast was the mains - silly me! But the Argentines have an extremely sweet tooth, so when the huge cake came out at about 2am it was accompanied by 2 massive tables of every type of sweet/dessert you could imagine. Unfortunately I didn´t allow for this and had no room to sample any of it... plus I was more interested in sampling the cocktails the bar were serving!
By about this time things started turning crazy with some strange dancing happening on the dancefloor, much to my amusement. The bride and groom spent most of the time in the air, courtesy of friends and family continually taking their turns in picking them up and throwing
them skyward. Sometimes they'd spend 2 or 3 songs just crowdsurfing and dancing horizontally about 10ft in the air while the friends cheered loudly and swayed dangerously underneath. When the disco lights, 80's music, smoke machine and alcohol took over everyone truly was having fun on the dancefloor (myself included), but THEN with the addition of crazy hats, afro wigs, masks, flashing glowsticks, cans of silly string and food fights and it just went totally nuts!! I didn't know whether I was at a wedding or Mardi Gras!! Heaps of fun!!The above pic - is my right arm really that long?? no, it´s not, in case you were wondering.
Then they must have thought all the energy being spent on the dancefloor may have somehow translated to a renewed hunger in the guests, so hot little mini-pizzas were delivered by the waitstaff to the dancefloor and surrounds. Didn't they realise they'd been serving food all night?? And it was past 3am?? I was a little bewildered so again I passed in favour of the daiquiris at the bar.
This is after quite a few cocktails and after the party hats and glow-things were introduced... unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the crazy dancefloor antics...
It was truly a great wedding and I felt so lucky to experience it, and I was thankful for the holiday the next day - even a 2 hour class would have been impossible after that party! And even though I sampled much of what the bar had to offer, the superb food entitled me to reach just 'slightly tipsy' status. I had good communication with the barman throughout the night (very important in a foreign country) who eventually said it was 'impossible to get an Australian drunk'!!
hmmm sounds like a challenge to me...
1 comment:
here's to maintaining the good name of the indestructable australian constitution!
up ya bottom!
mud in ya eye!
are you having fun yet?
gagey.
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