wonderful people

There are some weddings where you know everyone, there are some where you know no one; some you don't care to know anyone, and some you are a better person for having met the other guests.

I am so grateful to have met the people that I did at Sarah Shaffery's wedding. How many people can say that they dined, drank, and joked with an American ambassador and a neuroscientist at the wedding of a highschool friend? The Hall-Shaffery family is amazing and I knew that I would see old friends and make new friends, but I couldn't have hoped to have dined with a more interesting group of people.

Chris Dell is the Ambassador to Zimbabwe, and a hilarious, down to earth man from Jersey. He and Jim (father of the bride) went to school together at Oxford University. Chris is also a very good dancer. He speaks four languages and is married to the woman who tutored him in Bulgarian. We didn't talk politics very much; I thought it would be rude. Now I wish I would have, as he caused quite an uproar last week. Having met him before I heard about the drama, I just laughed when I read the article that talks about how the president of Zimbabwe sent him home after Chris blatently stated that the corrupt government is the reason for the country's economic problems. The speech is great. You can read it here: Chris's speech and you can read about what happened after the speech here.

Nigel, a fellow scientist with Jim, was there with his wife Maggie and their daughter Hazel. Nigel and Maggie still have very obvious English accents but live in Seattle and have been in the States for quite a while now, I believe. Hazel lives in a small college town in California and is working towards her masters in psychology. Hazel and I had a lot of fun dancing and hamming it up together. They are a wonderful family. Hazel is a daddy's girl through and through and it was interesting to watch the two of them interact together.

The champagne started flowing when Jim gave the first toast. His wife Merillee gave the second toast, their youngest daughter gave the third toast. Sarah, the lovely bride, gave a toast, and not to be left out, the groom also said a few words. By the time They finished toasting, Chris, Nigel, Maggie, Hazel and I were making our own toasts (To Health!!).

I got to see an old friend from highschool at the wedding. Mikey looks every bit the New Yorker these days. He can still dance like an angel and charm like the devil. I think New York and the love he has found there has really put some color in his cheeks. I'm glad to see him doing so well.
Oh! I caught the bouquet! Now all I need is a groom! Hah.

Today I sat down outside and had a wonderful conversation with Fernando, one of my neighbors. He, Romina, and Isobel are here from Venezuela to study music. Fernando told me about how Chavez is setting himself up to be a dictator, rigging elections, changing the constitution, and destroying the Venezuelan economy. I realized today that you can read the news online all you want, but unless you know someone who has experienced a situation, you can never really understand what is happening somewhere far away.

We also talked about how people from other countries view Americans. I was of the belief that people hate Americans, but Fernando says it is not true. He says that people don't like Bush, just like they don't like Chavez but that doesn't mean people don't like American citizens. Even though he is very intelligent and very well traveled, I think he might be a little nieve.
Fernando has no problems with Americans because Fernando is the type of person who loves everyone. I don't think he truly understands that he is different in that way.

After that conversation people started coming over and Fernando and I grilled steaks that he had bought. I met more Venezuelans and some Japanese students as well. I couple of my other neighbors, Jeremy and Robbie were there too. Fernando and Romina thought that they could teach Jeremy and I how to salsa. Poor misguided Fernando. He kept telling me "Follow me! You move to fast. Listen to the rhythm. You make big, ugly steps..." I tried to warn him. I did okay with all the twirling though, and that was fun. He and Romina said they will teach me. I would love to learn, but if he gives up trying to show me, he wouldn't be the first (right, Mikey?).

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, one that I will hold onto for a long time to come.

"You can't always get what you want, but if you try some times, you just might find you get what you need."