My first evening we went to a concert in the plaza in front of the large Catholic Church in the center of Limon. It was a locally known band with members from 25 to 70, singing and playing Latin music with lots of horns (mambo?). Older people were dancing on the pavement and the men who could dance proved very popular with the ladies. We were there until the rain forced a quick exit.
On Saturday Ivanny, a fledgling nail artiste, unpacked a big case of supplies onto the table in the outdoor kitchen and spent the entire day prepping the fingers and toes of Arlethe, Pita, newly arrived Floria - a family friend and lawyer from San Jose who came to perform the wedding ceremony of Pita's granddaughter Ansee. Oh, and of course she did a special job on the bride's digits. The entire family was stopping by all the day - Ansee's mother Jansee (obviously I'm mispelling these names), her father Luis, her fiance David, one of her sisters Susi. Florian cooked fabulous fish and we ate. Whirlwind day all around, while I was sitting very calmly in the vortex making sure that the dog (Jathe ???) loves me.
The wedding was held on Sunday afternoon. Ansee came over at 10-ish, had breakfast, had lunch and had her hair and makeup artist over for the beautification and dressing. Ivanny and Arlethe were out all morning decorating the wedding hall - sending photos of their beautiful flower arranging. Ansee told me not to eat much lunch, because there would be lots of food at her reception.
We left at 3-ish for a 4pm wedding, winding our way up and down hills and around the curves of backroads in Limon. Eventually we made a left onto an unpaved road and bumpetied past a dozen houses in a 180 degree range of states of repair and furbishment until we went through a sheet metal gate into the parking lot of a fantastic wedding / party venue.
Straight ahead was a large building, the left half enclosed with walls, the right half covered but open air. To the right was a large pool and stage. We were only using the open air section, and it had been decorated beautifully with table cloths and flowers and photos of Ansee and David. A large screen TV rolled through a slide show of photos of the couple who've lived together for years. The posts supporting the roof were wrapped in electric lights.
What I didn't see immediately was a big deck on a river / rio that leads to the ocean, with houses lining the banks and boats whizzing by. It was definitely a fantastic place to have a wedding and reception.
The bride's transportation arrived at 3:55 but a swing through the parking lot and a quick conversation with her dad indicated that many of the guests hadn't shown up yet (IST?), so they pulled into a parking spot outside of the sheet metal gate where they could watch the comings and goings and strategically plan the entrance. It must have been hot in the car, and Ansee was in a floor length dress and a veil that trailed beyond the dress. Finally at about 4:20 they drove up to hall and pseudo-covertly made their way to the rio-side deck where a tall sheet metal gate was pulled across to hide the bride until the ceremony started.
All the women were dressed to the nines - hair, nails, dresses, jewelry, shoes - while the men were little birds with blah plumage of jeans and button shirts. Except the boys under 18 with their bow ties.
There were 'tween girls dressed in ballet skirts who were the flower girls and a toddler girl who couldn't decide if she was up to the task so her petals kept being added to the older girls baskets then removed back into her own. There was a toddler boy, Pita's great-grandson Nathan, who would walk in the processional with a sign staying (I've assumed) "Don't worry Chickas, I'm still available", and another boy with a sign saying "To David. This is your last chance to run."
While my family is Catholic, I got the feeling that David's family is Protestant and perhaps even Evangelical based on the under-the-table handling of just a tiny bit of alcohol and the arm lifting during the prayers. And I was surprised I recognized when the ceremony started with the same verses I've heard in English in so many weddings "Love is patient, love is kind..."
Oh! And Arlethe caught the bouquet, which I'm sure terrified her new boyfriend Dave.
