Blitz Visit to Belgium!

In 2008 my family hosted its third Belgian girl through Rotary International's youth exchange program.  She is a lovely girl who, as was our experience with all our exchanges, fit right in with the family and really became a part of our Sierra Valley/Portola lives.  That autumn I was actually back in the States working at my alma mater teaching lower-level Spanish classes and so I too came to know and love Justine.  Last year she announced her marriage and even arranged the wedding date around my family's schedules.

It was difficult coordinating every one, but in the end all of us except Lucy and Angelines were present at the ceremony which took place last Saturday on a (freakishly) beautifully sunny day in the countryside outside Mouscron, Belgium.  The weather was so nice I was frantically hunting for shade and wishing I had my hat, sunglasses and sunscreen!  All the Belgians, on the other hand were bravely sitting out in the sunshine soaking up as much as possible.  We Spaniards certainly couldn't live without the sun (two cloudy days in a row ammount to seasonal depression!), but we also know that to enjoy it, one ought to be prepared.  My family was laughing at me for hugging the walls and hedges in search of shade.

The wedding was beautiful.  Spanish weddings have nearly ruined me.  Here the ceremonies are nearly all religious...and even when they aren't there's just a lot of blather about the legal responsabilities of the spouses, etc.  Very few people do much of anything personal even in civil ceremonies.  Plus, Spanish weddings are very expensive for the attendants, which grates on my more frugal tendancies.  In the States, you can get away with buying some thoughtful gift for maybe between 20-30 dollars (perhaps even less if you're a good shopper), but in Spain you're expected to fork over a minimum of 50 euros cash--many times closer to 100.  This is some unwritten cultural norm that I personally hate because it ammounts to people inviting as many friends, family and acquaintences as possible just for the money.  In Spain, on a whole it seems that people are invited and attend weddings out of a sense of obligation and not because either party is particularly interested in the event or the people involved.  It's really very sad I think.

So with my newly aquired Spanish sensitivities, I really enjoyed the origniality of Justine and Christoph's wedding.  It was as all weddings should be: a celebration of the love between two people and their dedication to each other to make a life together. I am not one to cry, but I couldn't help the tears welling in my eyes throughout the ceremony.  Justine was absolutely radiant and Christoph was so dashing.  They were so obviously in love and everyone there knew it--it was a truly beautiful thing and I am so happy that I was able to be there to celebrate with them.

I think I will save the rest of out Belgian visit for another post because I feel this getting long, but first a few pictures from the wedding:

Seeing Maggie was definitely a highlight to my Belgian visit.

Emily made a new friend at the wedding: Eva, 4 yrs.  They were inseparable!

 

The bride throwing the bouquet...Maggie caught it!!! ...another European wedding in my future?

Three generations of Barkley Wilbanks :)