Week 1 : A Greek Wedding

A Greek wedding is a marvelous event. As for any wedding, its preparation and epilogue are occasions to revisit one’s family along several generations and to fill in the gaps of time. It allows for all who attend to hear stories from those who have been away, to see and hear how we are faring in the world both near and far and to reestablish the bonds that, because of time and distance may have grown weaker but have never broken. And all weddings encompass one idea- it is the confirmation of a love and commitment between two people and the opportunity of those present to affirm that commitment with them. In this particular case, I had the unique opportunity to be a guest of the Makrinos family and to observe general customs that weren’t entirely different from those to which I am accustomed. There were some glaring differences, however. I think that it's safe to say that I will never have a wedding in Ireland. Irene's was held in the northwest of Greece, in a part of the country where George’s mother and her side of the family are from. I watched as Irene's family walked her toward the chapel to Taso, who was standing in front of thr chapel with his side of the family. The ceremony was a Greek Orthodox ceremony and was spoken as such. I and cousin Steve were asked to run to the car and get the baskets of rice, which every single person there dipped their hands into. The wedding band was definitely no run-of-the-mill DJ. These guys were Greek all the way. And I learned how to step on toes with grace when dancing in the traditional line dance that seemed as if all 200 of us were in. Actually, it was more the gracious nods that I got from Elias, who was next to me in the circle of strapping young Greeks with whom I was dancing, that accompanied his pained smiles than any actual grace that I might possess. And if there is any word that I have learned so far in my travels through this fine land, and which I have used third only to "yiasas" (formal for hello/ goodbye) "eufaharisto" (thank you), it is "sthn yia mas," or "cheers!" And I suppose that at Greek weddings they fly in the prime minister, because he showed up after an evening stroll to the delight of, dare I say, most of the wedding guests. It was quite an event. It sent my mind to thinking of my own sister, how beautiful she was, the smile on my father's face as he walked her toward Peter and how proud I was that I was her brother. I could see in George's eyes, he felt the same way.