Brasil Day 4 – Day of the Wedding

Sabado 8 Março 2008

The wedding was scheduled for 7:30 p.m., so we had the day free to rest and relax, or so we thought. Sergio’s father, Antonio, insisted (the former commander of the security force to protect the embassy sector can be quite persuasive) on taking us to the same sights as the day before, so that we could take photographs. And this time, the tomb of JK was open. We could have spent the entire day in there—it was a museum to JK’s life and effects, as well as the tomb itself. We attempted to ride the elevator to the observation deck. But the line on a Saturday afternoon was too long. Long wait to go up; long wait to come back down.

They took us to “Paraguay,” so called because much of it came from China (direct import from China had not been allowed) and in the past had to be shipped in through Paraguay. We got the chance to sample coconut milk water and an incredible cheese-on-a-stick. Later, we lamented the overall state of American intelligence and obesity. Just think of what we could accomplish if we only had grilled cubes of cheese on a stick! Hugeness beyond belief. At Paraguay, we also found a power strip to replace the one we had burned out the first day; it has a voltage meter so we know what’s coming in and out.

Everywhere, we shot photos, Antonio and Maria Eugenia took many photos of us in front of the landmarks. The usual afternoon chuvarada (storm) came up, and in some shots, the wind is quite evident. It rained cats, dogs, and even chickens every afternoon, with water accumulating into rivers in the streets, only to clear in about an hour until the next afternoon.

Mary and Maria Eugenia had appointments to have their hair done before the wedding at 3:30 p.m. Mary was quite relieved to get the humid frizziness removed, at least until she next showered. She met a young woman who was an English teacher, and they spoke for an hour while the young woman, Tatiana, waited for the rain to stop (so she didn’t get her newly straightened hair wet) and Mary waited for her appointment. Tatiana’s comment—that Mary had to write down—was, “I never expected to laugh so much with an American!” and then she told Mary her impression of Americans as cold, remote, and formal. Formal!

Tatiana wanted to know if Americans always ate very fast, and always ate at fast food restaurants. She also wanted to know if obesity was as much of a problem in America as she’d read. (See above comment about cheese–on-a-stick.) She said that many Brazilian women (Brasileiras) eat as little as possible to maintain those bodies that we think defy the laws of physics. She said that she is considered on the heavy side—Mary told her that she would feel quite good about her weight if she visited America, especially a Wal-Mart, she would feel better. It’s part of the Wal-Mart guarantee that someone there will weigh one-hundred kilos more than you ever will. They have Wal-Mart here, but we didn’t stop to do the weight test.

Sergio’s and Luciana’s wedding was very nearly over-the-top for us. I have never been to such an event. Live musicians. Policial’s (police) dress uniforms. A sword arch. All of it was video recorded. Bouquets of flowers at the end of every pew in the church, not just the first few rows. The aisle was lined with baby’s breath on both sides along its entire length. Cascading umbrella-like structures on poles that held multiple votive candles and large cubes of votive candles flickered in the front, back, and along the sides. And, during much of the videotaped ceremony, I am sure the video camera had me in the background of every scene. I hope I didn’t pick my nose during the ceremony.

The reception gathered at a mansion dedicated to big affairs. Musica barulhento (thunderous music) inside. We covered our ears and headed outside to relative quietude. Then Food. Food. Food. A battalion of waiters circulated, offering trays of food. During the event, people heard Mary and me speaking English. Americanos! Of course, the dead giveaway was my bright yellow heavily-thumbed Portuguese-English dictionary on the table.The waiter would stop to ask one of the teenagers at the table how to say in English the name of the dish he was serving. It was very nice of them.

Brazilians follow our politics much more than we do theirs and perhaps more than we Americans do of our own:

“Who do you like: Hilary Clinton, Obama, or McCain?”

“Obama,” I said. I think the music and dancing stopped at this point, along with all the traffic outside.

“Why?” he asks. He wants to say more and takes a moment to form the Portuguese into English. (I also tried to translate my English into ragged Portuguese with much less success—if only I’d had internet access I could have translated faster. (I’ve not yet found a small hand-held translator unit for Portuguese.) “Hilary Clinton has much more experience than Barack Obama?” he says.

From the outsider’s viewpoint (often the view from without is much clearer than one’s is within the burning building), Hilary’s time as First Lady counts for quite a bit. Then comes the question, “who do you think will win?” Followed closely by, “How is Arnold Schwarzenegger as a governor?”

I thoroughly enjoyed the wedding of Lu and Serge. It was planned down to the last detail—as we waited for our valet to retrieve Antonio’s car, there was an attended table with cappuccinos and plates of doces (sweets), and a chocolate fondue. They fed us even as we were leaving!