Mind of Migg

Day 3 was wedding day. There was definitely an excitement in the air as we walked to breakfast that morning (another amazing meal). The best thing was, the ceremony didn’t start until later in the afternoon, so we had the entire day to lounge around.

After breakfast, the wedding party had all kind of things to tend to so I was left on my own. I went down to the pool, along with most of the other guests not in the wedding. I’m not much for swimming, so I just lounged around, listening to the rest of my Doctor Who audiobook. I made the mistake of falling asleep though, and woke up when someone told me I looked like I was roasting. I went back to the room and realized that I had the darkest farmer’s tan in history.

I met up with Violet for lunch and then headed back to the room, with all kinds of plans to be productive. What would I do? Maybe some more writing, maybe some reading, maybe just take a walk. The only problem was, the sounds of the jungle are so soothing. You’d think it’d be annoying to hear constant buzzing and chirping, but it’s actually the opposite. I fell asleep and woke up two hours later just in time to get ready and head down for the ceremony. They were still taking pictures when I got down there. When they wrapped up, Violet was ready to start.

The ceremony was really cool. It was so simple and so moving. There was live music playing as everyone walked in, and one of the other guests, Pam, sang a song. The jungle in the background made it a perfect setting.

After the ceremony, everyone headed up the way for the reception. Awesome food again, and awesome speeches. They were so heartfelt and emotional, it was a really special moment, I’m sure for Janiva and Ricardo, but also for everyone else there. The best part was, each speech was said in English and Spanish, so we toasted so many times, we flew through the champagne.

Once dinner was done, we moved all the tables to the side and the party got underway. There was the usual first dance, father-daughter dance, and mother-son dance. And of course, cutting the cake. Then there was dancing…a whole lot of dancing. There was a live band who drove in for the reception. Their van actually broke down on the way, and it was already dark, but by some good fortune, an empty taxi, with enough room to fit them all drove by and gave them a lift. Things like that happened all weekend; good karma paying off for good people so that everything could come together.

Normally, I’m hesitant to dance, and that hesitation makes me a worse dancer than I already am. This time, though, everyone was dancing and there was plenty of wine to go around. So not only did I dance, I picked up the steps much more easily than I ever had before. At one point, it started raining and a group of us ran out into the grass to take it in. It was such a moment of peace and clarity. Looking up at the sky, feeling the cool rain come down, watching others dance in the rain, and seeing all the smiling faces of everyone at the party was a moment like no other. I can’t describe how good it felt to be there at that moment.

The band wrapped up and people slowly started to trickle to their rooms for the night. Fortunately for us, there were still some bottles of wine left and we were a large group of Claremont College alumns. When the music stopped, a group of us, including the bride and groom, moved the party to the swimming pool. It was actually a little cool by this point, so I wasn’t really up for a swim. There was also a hot tub though so we tried it out. Unfortunately, it was a solar powered hot tub and since it was such a hot day, the water was near boiling and there was no way to control the temperature. That didn’t stop a few people who had a few more drinks than I did from jumping in. I could barely keep my legs in for a few seconds and there they were swimming around in it. By the time one a.m. rolled around, Violet and I were both ready to call it a night. We walked back to our room and collapsed. What a wedding.