She has asked me, her father, to be her guest blogger one more time. So be patient, she will resume writing the blog soon.
The biggest thing that has happened here in Zihua is, of course, Pako and Leah's wedding. I remember a year ago when we were reserving the hall and the beach site for the wedding. Then before you know it the actual day of the wedding was here. Leah, her mother, her bridesmaids and Lorena (Pako's sister) all spent the day of the wedding together getting massages, their hair done, dressed and the rest of the mysterious stuff women do to get ready.
This left me on my own and I spent the day remembering Leah as a little girl and all of our lives together culminating with her wedding. I was flooded with all sorts of emotions and more than once had to fight down a lump in my throat. American males are not trained to handle these type of emotions and I am no exception. So as soon as I could, without looking like a nut, I got dressed and headed over to the beach and the site of the wedding. Once I got there I thankfully saw three of Leah's friends from grad school and I could talk to them and get my mind back to the present.
This left me on my own and I spent the day remembering Leah as a little girl and all of our lives together culminating with her wedding. I was flooded with all sorts of emotions and more than once had to fight down a lump in my throat. American males are not trained to handle these type of emotions and I am no exception. So as soon as I could, without looking like a nut, I got dressed and headed over to the beach and the site of the wedding. Once I got there I thankfully saw three of Leah's friends from grad school and I could talk to them and get my mind back to the present.
It was, as it almost always is this time of year, a beautiful day. The wedding was scheduled to begin at 5:30 and I was there about an hour early. One of my first tasks was to tap into the restaurant's WiFi so Leah's grandmother back in Green Bay would be able to see her in her wedding dress as we prepared to walk down the aisle. After a few missteps we got connected and I logged onto Skype. We had asked our friend Bert to hold the laptop and be our cameraman. When we first thought of Skyping the wedding we weren't sure just how much of the ceremony we would be able to capture. We weren't sure if the WiFi would carry the signal all the way out to the beach where the actual wedding took place or what the glare of the sun would do to the picture quality. Fortunately, the signal carried and Bert did a great job of getting in there with the still photographer and my family back in Wisconsin not only saw the whole wedding but heard the vows Pako and Leah exchanged. If you are going to have a significant event in your family and certain family members are prevented from attending for health or other reasons I highly recommend you consider Skyping the event.
As we came down the aisle the the guests started clapping and the Mexican guests shouted "Bravo". I told Leah that I thought they were yelling for me but I think she disagreed. Being an objective observer, I have to say the bride was beautiful and the groom looked relaxed and muy guapo.
The wedding itself was a simple but beautiful ceremony. Leah and Pako wrote their own vows. The vows were sincere and at times funny but most importantly they were a statement of their love for each other. Two days before the wedding Pako suggested they write their own vows. So there wasn't a lot of time but obviously they knew their subject well because they both expressed their love and devotion convincingly. I had only a few things to do during the ceremony and managed not to screw up any of them.
After the ceremony many pictures were taken on the beach. There was the official pictures being taken by Christy Tyler and more photo's being taken by our Canadian friend, Jim, and then every one else was taking pictures with phones and every other type of camera in existence. We all milled around while the sun set over the beach and we grabbed taxis to the hall where the reception and dance were held.
The food was good, the cake tasty, the tequila smooth, the beer cold and the party was on. In my earlier guest blog I described the process by which we selected the song for the father daughter dance. When the time came we began to dance to Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely. I was dancing up a storm to the song. I like to think of my style as a cross between Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Hines, Hines and Dad (anyone under 50 can google Hines, Hines, and Dad). As we got to the last chorus of the song it suddenly cut out and a new song started playing. It turned out to be a song that had circulated in Wisconsin during the recent Super Bowl run with a refrain that went "I love the Green Bay Packers". It was a surprise Leah had planned without letting me know. When it came on the Wisconsin guests let out a roar and the Mexican guests scratched their heads and probably wondered if it was such a good idea to go to a wedding with so many gringo guests. As for the Minnesotans we considered a song about the Vikings but this was a wedding and a dirge would have been inappropriate. Being good Minnesotans they soon forgave us and the party went on.
Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I was very happy that things had gone off without nary a hitch. Kudos to Don Fransisco, who officiated at the ceremony which was held at his family's restaurant, and the caterer who had closed his restaurant the night of the wedding so he could use his excellent staff to work the wedding. If you are looking to plan a destination wedding let us know because we can make some seriously good recommendations for the location, food, cake, and photographer. Thanks to all of you for helping Leah and Pako celebrate their big day.
The next day, Pako's dad barbecued goats, chicken and fish and the traditional day after party was held at Lorena and Tito house. A big group turned out. Pako's dad was pleased that the gringos tried all the food, including the goat and it was a nice layed back get together. After the party there were still seven cases of beer left. I have been put in charge of disposal and have been doing my best to make sure I complete the job before we head back north.
The week following the wedding was taken up with visiting with our friends and showing them some of the delights of Zihua. It was a lot of fun but I guess I'm not as young as I once was because when the last group yelled at me from the taxi taking them to the airport I was thinking about heading back to our apartment and sleeping for a day or two. Leah, Pat and I want to extend our thanks to all of our friends who came all this way to help Leah and Pako celebrate their wedding. It was so nice to have so many of our good friends there to share our happiness. I think just about everyone had a great time during their visit and I expect I will get fewer questions about what I do down here all the time. Thanks again for being here and being such good friends.
Now to switch gears a little. One of the advantages of hanging out with a local surfer dude is you get to go to places that aren't on any tourist map. Last weekend Pako took us to Loma Bonita, a beach about 60km from Zihua. It was a long, long stretch of beach with zero development cluttering it's natural beauty. We packed a picnic lunch and brought our own shade. In order to get down to the beach you have to climb down a bluff. Fortunately Pako brought a surfer friend along with us and the two of them carried the cooler (which held some of the surplus beer) down the bluff.
The beach itself was teaming with life. Not many humans but scores of birds, crabs, clams, and a couple of friendly dogs that were pretty interested in Leah's dog either as a playmate or a snack. We weren't sure at first but everything turned out fine. On the beach we saw turns, albatross, cormorants, pelicans, and vultures as well as these little birds that all flew together in large numbers. These little birds would all fly together and change direction all together at any given moment. They looked like a school of fish in the air. Then they would land on the beach and would all run together as fast as their little legs could carry them and would all turn at the same time in what appeared to be random movements. The dogs would chase them and they would all fly down the beach and when the dogs caught up they would all fly back. This went on for a while until the dogs gave up.
After Pako and his buddy got done surfing we ate our lunch and layed down to take a little nap. I didn't like the way the vultures were looking at me so I got up and walked the beach waving my arms around to signal I might be bloated but I'm certainly not dead.
A little later we got to watch some whales put on a show. They were breaching and you could see their flippers (an unofficial whale term) as they slapped them on the surface of the water. When they were at a certain angle you could see their flutes (tails, and an official whale term) clearly come out of the water. It was a good show and was the third whale sighting for me since we have been here. I'm starting to get blase about whales but this summer as I am walking around Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis I probably won't get too excited when I spot a school of carp.
Two days from now we will have been in Zihua for eight weeks. It has been a fun and eventful time and of course we will always remember the wedding and everything that went into pulling it off. I'm not sure that Leah will ever relinquish her blog to me again but it has been fun writing to you all. I'm sure the next entry will be Leah's and she can tell you, once again about her "New Sunnier and More Spanishy Life''.
Leah's Dad
