Day 2 - The Wedding

Saturday morning I woke up at 9:30 with a dry mouth, thanks to the aforementioned fan. I woke up so early because the house next door, the Calandrino's, was being remodeled and the workers started working at 7:00am. What happened to island time down here??? In any case, I was greeted with a platter of food for breakfast as well as coffee (which I don't drink, even in Brazil) and juice. I love the Euro breakfast, with tropical fruit, cheese, cold cuts, and fresh bread.

We were having a pretty lazy morning, so Roland broke out his new poker chips and we played for a while. Ricardo joined us towards the end of the morning and we taught him how to play Texas Hold'm and I took his chips :o) . For some reason, I quickly was given the nickname "Binions" by Stefan because I had miracle hands all the time. He says I have pure luck, but I know that there's skill involved when I'm dealt two Aces or a Big Slick (A-K) ;o). This nickname stuck for the whole trip because I kept winning, but not like that first day. Stefan was coming up with every excuse in the book for why I was winning, including that I had a horseshoe stuck up my arse ;o).

After a while, Daniel came over and we were going to go shopping at the jersey shop for the latest Brazilian soccer gear, especially for my favorite Brazilian team, Palmeiras. Daniel's friend ran the store, so Stefan and I headed over to the mall with Daniel while Csilla and Roland went with Ricardo and Anita to go to a market and get strawberries and fruit. I wasn't planning on actually getting any jerseys, but Stefan wanted to get a bunch like he did last time. I immediately checked out Liverpool jerseys and also some hats that were there. I actually like Nike's soccer gear with the "90" logo, so I got a hat with that on it and not many Nike swooshes (since I generally don't like Nike stuff) and I passed on the blue Liverpool jersey since they are known as the REDS, not the Blues (that's Chelsea). I also really liked the new Diadora Palmeiras jersey and so I got suckered into a jersey and matching shorts. I guess I won't need a haloween costume next year!

Once we got home from shopping, it was time for the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona game and for oogling over the girl who was there to do all the girl's hair and makeup for the wedding. She was a gorgeous lady who was apparently from Boston originally but didn't speak a lick of English. I said a few things to her using my exceptional Portuguese skills, like that I was from Novo York and things like that. Anyway, back to the game - both teams are some of the top teams in the world and are jam packed with Brazilian superstars, so we were eager to see it on TV. Many countries are crazy about soccer, but I have never seen one more fanatical than Brazil. Common people wear Brazil jerseys on a regular basis, watch games all day Saturday and Sunday, which fits me very well :o). We watched the game for a while but Barca was annihilating Madrid thanks to their Brazilian magician, Ronaldinho. Wanna see him in action with a ball? Watch this link. And this one - you'll see why they're called the samba footballers! If you want more, email me.

At halftime, I ran home and took a shower since the wedding started 1/2 hour after the game ended. After the game (3-0 Barca, two goals by Ronaldihno), we went back to Ricardo and Anitas and changed into our suits. Everyone looked great and it was fun getting all gussied up for the event. Vas had some issues with his tie, but it looked pretty damn good by the time I was done with it ;o). Sorry, no Full- or Half-Windsor on it, but it was small enough for him to like. Roland had told us that his suit was a Versace and Stefan bought it for a bit, knowing his yuppie habits. But the truth is that Vas hates suits and he would never wear something so expensive in his life.

After we were all dressed, we walked over to the church around the corner for the ceremony. It was really tropical-hot out and had rained a few minutes earlier so the suit wasn't the best thing to be wearing at the time. When we were hanging out outside the church, there was a fantastic sunset that we caught on camera. I couldn't believe how orange the sky was at that time. Very beautiful, just in time for the wedding :). There were a few cute co-eds outside as well so I introduced myself and asked if they were friends of the family and it turns out one of them was Daniel's sister??? I guess I hadn't met her before, but she was a medical school student and may have been out of the country the last time we visited. When Stefan and I, the perpetual bachelors, asked about single cousins or friends at the wedding, which had about 300 guests, Dan mentioned that he had some cousins and some of Kelly's friends would be there, including one that he described as "really cute" who had just broken up with her boyfriend and they weren't sure if he was coming or not (rebound!). But he never mentioned his sister (Daniel, please don't kill me ;o).

The ceremony was fabulous and there is plenty of video of it on my webpage. It was a traditional, huge Catholic wedding and we were seriously honored to be sat in the front of the church with the family. I don't know how to describe his family, they really treated us as their own, which was very special. They had live wedding music (horn, violin, drums, and keyboard) that added an amazing touch, as you will see on the videos. We didn't understand most of the Catholic message (since it was Portuguese), but my favorite part of the wedding was when Daniel and Kelly greeted and embraced each other's wedding party (composed of family members and friends) one at a time and then greeted their own wedding party. It was a very emotional point for everyone, especially with the live music right in front of us playing songs like Ave Maria.

The heat, travel, and food had caught up to Csilla by this point and she turned ghostly white and had to sit down. She was not looking good at all, so Roland and Ricardo (a doctor) took her outside to cool off a little and drink some water. Thankfully she felt better after that because it would've been a terrible way to spend such an amazing night.

After the ceremony, everyone travelled en mass to the banquet hall where the wedding party was being held, the Ipanema Clube. We sat with Ricardo and Anita and had nice conversations with many of the friendly family members and friends. One whole side of the clube had huge windows that opened up, providing a nice breeze and a beautiful view over Sorocaba. Ricardo was a class act, acting like a kid in the candy store whenever the waiters with the whiskey came around ("Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey!!!"). I personally cannot stand whiskey, even when mixed with liberal amounts of Guarana. I switched to wine and beer while dining on the pounds and pounds of cheese they had available for us to snack on.

After the snacking and initial binge drinking (especially Ricardo, who had four whiskeys before I even finished my first one), the dancing began. Most of the music from the band was initially slow 80's music, but they soon through down the gauntlet and picked up the ryhthm a bit more. They played lots of upbeat songs and Brazilian tunes, such as Axe music that is all the rage in South America right now. Luckily, there was a few ladies at the next table who were dancing in front of their chairs and looked interested in getting out on the dancefloor. After a few songs went by, and with Ricardo badgering us to get over there, I knew it was time for me to practice my Portuguese and speak the international language out on the dancefloor, where they had migrated to. I walked by them while heading to the bathroom and, lucky me, they were talking to Daniel and Kelly alone while the band took a break. Without missing a beat, Daniel introduced them to me and said they were Kelly's friends from college. He did some translating for me and let them know that I wanted to master the samba that night (hopeless as it was, it got laughs out of them). I told them that I'd be back in a bit. Word was that the next set would have more 60's style music that is right up my swinging alley!

When the band started up again, they were playing some great swingable tunes so I went to the ladies' table to find a dance partner. The pretty blonde jumped at the opportunity (and who wouldn't? ;o) and we were busting moves on the dancefloor before I knew it. Neither she nor her friends spoke a lick of English - well one knew a few words here and there, but less than my Portuguese. I used my Portguese though and we got by for the rest of the night. By the end, my vocabulary had pretty much doubled thanks to them. Rosangela and I danced and drank water the whole night and, at one point, the band started handing out party hats, clown noses, sunglasses, lays, masks, etc. Apparently this is a tradition at Brazilian weddings (or was it just Calandrino weddings?) and the band starts playing music like YMCA and other classic party songs. Of course, there were group dances with the boys, dances where everyone knows the moves (unless you're a gringo like we were) and other group activities on the dancefloor.

Much like weddings in America, Kelly throws her boquet over her shoulder to all the single girls. I'd heard that all the men grab their girlfriends and don't let them get near the boquet, but that didn't seem to be the case as many of the girls went crazy trying to catch it. I think one of the Calandrino brother's girlfriends (Paulo's?) caught it.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, there was a group of ravenous, crazy guys that started jumping around with a serving dish, screaming some Brazilian song and demanding money from all the men on the dancefloor. This was led by Daniel's brother Lucas and was the part when you give the bride and groom money for their honeymoon. Lucas had apparently forgotten to do it earlier in the night when there were more men around (too much beer I guess :o), but their banshee screams and celebrations when they got money was awesome and I gladly donated some dollars and reais to their delight. I heard that in the end they made more money than they expected because of the celebreation. Awesome!

As the night continued and guests left, the dancing got crazier, the sweat beads pourned, and finally people resigned themselves to just drinking. It was mostly Daniel's (and Kelly's ;o) friends and brothers left, and I was still hanging out with and "talking" to Rosangela. Daniel told me that all the guys at the wedding were totally jealous of me because I had gotten to her before they did and that, no matter what, I had to get (at the least ;o) a kiss out of her that night. At the end of the night, Daneil and his friends started jumping around in circles and shouting and singing soccer songs from their team Palmeiras's games. I joined in whenever I could figure out what they were saying since they are my team as well ;o).

Her and her friends were ready to go at around 3:30am and I walked them outside, saying "sou uma besso" ('just one kiss' in Portuguese) the whole time we were walking out. She resisted until her friends made some comment about us having blonde hair and then ran off laughing. I have no idea what they were saying, but I didn't complain because it worked in my favor :-D !

The bar finally closed at around 4:30am but Lucas sweet-talked the bartender, who may have been a family friend, into getting he and I one more beer for the end of the night. The progression then moved out into the front room of the clube since the band was done and the music was off and the bride and groome had left. The remainder of us finally left at around 5:00am, though the last ones at the place were Daniel's youngest brother (Luis Estevo, who was around 10 years old) and youngest sister and her friend (maybe 9?). One of the Paulo twins (the one that didn't have a test to take all day Sunday) took his girlfriend home with us in the back and then went to get a snack at a 24-hour bakery. The place was packed and gave you food and then you had to pay on your way out. I was looking around while Paulo payed and then he and Stefan walked out. They hollered for me and I walked out as well, but the security guys thought that I was trying to get out without paying. Two huge guys grabbed me out in the parking lot and thank god Paulo managed to explain to them that he had payed for me or else it wouldn't have been pretty. Those guys wouldn't have seen me coming ;o)

We got back at around 6:30am with the sun rising in the sky. Anita and Ricardo were long asleep (I'm sure Ricardo passed out early ;o), so we went to Daniel's parents house to try to get a key. The place was littered with bodies sleeping everywhere and Daniel's dad called Ricardo to let us in. I thought I was going to have to sleep in my suit that night, but luckily everything was fine and we got to sleep in our beds!

J. Riley, what a story....