A wedding in Salamanca

Sometimes I worry I go on too much.

You know, about Spain. I don't mean to paint Spain as a paradise. I see things I'd change if I could. If only they mattered to me! My life here is simple. I am able to toss aside the frustrations that do come up because I am happy here. It's that easy.

I moved to Salamanca to climb into a life that in many ways couldn't feel further from my reserved Irish American upbringing and my frantic corporate life.

And never have I felt that......I'll laugh as I type this but it's true... reckless, wild abandon to just have a hell of a good time, as much as I have at the 2 weddings in which I have participated (I told you, "attended" won't do) in Spain.

I suspect what the Spanish are teaching me is that wild abandon isn't actually reckless at all. The risk of wild abandon would be...? Sore feet?

I'm sure there are Americans who grow up knowing all that I am learning here, as I am sure there are more cultures that revel in life and family and friends.

But me, I'm staying right where I am. And trying to figure out where to meet engaged people. A wedding a month would do, I think.

Scenes from a fabulous wedding:

The ceremony, in Salamanca's Old Cathedral. The Old Cathedral is a hauntingly old, evocative space. Invite the choir in which the bride and groom met and you send chills along the American guest's spine. And prove once and for all that the Spanish either have uniquely musical genes or incredible musical education. I watched people I've known for two years as ordinary work colleagues sing like trained, incredibly talented professionals.

Hadyn's Hallelujah chorus as the choir's closing number. Should I ever marry, I'd love to close with this. For my mother. Whose sentiments at that long awaited moment would be perfectly expressed.

Four hours of nonstop dancing (in the very pointy shoe above, ouch...) including the obligatory Grease reenactment (my Greased Lightening is coming back, I'm pleased to say), rousing renditions of "It's Raining Men" and "YMCA", more conga lines than I can count and the sevillanas I really do want to learn before the next wedding. Who knows where I can find a copy of El Puente:

"Será maravilloso, viajar hasta Mallorca, sin necesidad de coger el barco o el avión, sólo caminando, en bicicleta o autostop..."

Catchiest tune I've heard in a long time. It's a sixties tunes, so I'm told, English speakers, about how marvelous it would be to travel to the island of Mallorca via a bridge from Valencia, walking, on a bicycle or hitchhiking. At least amongst the wedding crowd, it is best danced by acting out each transport action.....while bopping to a 60s girls group beat.

In closing, may the bride and groom be as happy as they made me that brilliant October day. And may I soon be invited to another Spanish wedding.