fri 23 may 2008 01:00:00 — event hall, sosenki, sanok
at the wedding
sosenki means "pine trees". there are cabins here and a big bar/restaurant used for events like this. one priest said that half of the population of sanok were conceived in this forest.
it rained all day. baz and i were surprised how calm everybody was, not much rushing around and getting nervous. "if we were in ireland, this would be the day *before* the wedding" he said.
the little church, way down at the end of a muddy road, used to be orthodox, lots of icons in the back, now it's catholic. priest is pani's cousin who lives in ghana. i could just about squeeze in the door to stay out of the rain. i gave the DV camera to bazek who filmed the ceremony. a troupe of ghanaian visitors did some drumming during the show. i of course couldn't understand a word of what was being said, sung or prayed, except when the priest pyotr was giving instructions to the ghanaians in english. we got a ride to and from the church with andrzej (an uncle) and his wife.
01.00 magda threw a veil, somebody caught it by stomping on it. games and famous polish pop songs i've never heard of. i drank some little glasses of vodka. after dinner, after cake, food keeps coming because there is vodka on the table. pate, pork slices, salmon with cheese, sliced sausages, fruit salad mixed with corn, bowls of nectarines and bananas, some other kind of fish ... the food keeps coming because, says pani, "people drinking vodka need to eat."
05.00 band just played "jimmy B goode" and we all danced. only baz and i were laughing our asses off.
i got to slow dance twice with a pani's real sexy cousin. you could even say i slept with her three times, cuz i kept nodding off in my chair as i sat next to her.
06.30 friday, back at room 202 of the hotel. the rest of sanok is just waking up as we try to go to sleep. finally. i wasn't sure the wedding was really ever going to end. it only really ended because the band said they needed to go to work at their real jobs. now i am watching "the love boat" on TV, in polish. things that make you go hmm.