Matrimonio Musla

On December 23rd, Mauricio's cousin Flavio (a.k.a Musla) got married to Edith. Having been present at the engagement party, I had met most of the key characters - I even went all the way to warning Edith that crying like a baby on her engagement party was somewhat unladylike but crying like that on her wedding day was outright unacceptable and therefore she had to learn to control herself... Sheepish grin.

The church wedding was in the afternoon, one street over from the La Paz Red Cross (I actually had to stop by to drop something off and I think most of the volunteers who saw me barely recognized me, haha). It was relatively quick as the previous wedding ended 5min before we walked in and the next one started 5min before we walked out (well... close enough!)... Photos on the left are Camila and Emanuel the two crazy little cousins, the flower girls, and the about-to-be-newlyweds. The real fun was later on at the party. There the civil wedding took place (you know - signing them papers with witnesses etc.), a buffet dinner was served, and then we all celebrated.

It was my first wedding in Bolivia, so it officially qualifies as a new cultural experience. That said, there was nothing particularly striking or unusual to report - from my meager knowledge and attendence of weddings, I'd say this one was relatively "normal" (if there even is such a thing), even though between the church wedding and civil wedding the newlyweds DID tour the city to go for a stroll in 7 squares and crossed a bridge for good luck!

The bottom line is that two people united for life (even though I am genuinely happy for them, the thought still sends shivers down my spine!) and did so in the company of loved ones. And I was invited to the party! Always fun. Think the highlight was seeing Mauricio immitate Shakira's crazy-shakin' dance... You had to be there.

On the left, you see the Newlyweds and the groom's cousin-gang. Left to right: Alejandro, Musla, Edith, Pablo (a.k.a Kiri) and Mauricio.