The wedding, Palm Sunday

The wedding

We were invited to the wedding of Joe and Monica. Joe is Pam Thompson’s son and he, Monica and their son Nicholas live in Puerto Vallarta. They had a beautiful wedding at Rancho El Ojo de Agua. We had arranged with Pam that we would pick up some beer and sodas for her and take them to the ranch in the afternoon. We didn’t have an address, we were told “everyone knows were it is.” So, off we went with the skimpiest of ideas of the location. About 45 minutes later and having asked about 6 people, including some policemen, we finally got there! I think what happened is that some people were thinking of another ranch, so we were traveling back and forth between the two ranches. But, we got there and dropped off the stuff.
The invitation was for 7:30. We know that “Mexican time” comes into play here when deciding when to arrive. But for a wedding we thought we ought to arrive at the appointed time. When we got there about 7:15, the ceremony was already going on. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding. Both the bride and the groom looked great and very happy. It turned out that many people are invited for the party and would be arriving later. We sat with another American couple who are also friends of Pam. As you sat down, the waiters brought bottles of mixers to the table and would bring a bottle of tequila, whiskey or rum to the table. There were also big dishes of ceviche served. After a while, many more people arrived. There was a good DJ and dancing. Of course the drinks were flowing! We enjoyed the fajita buffet and wedding cake. Everyone was having a good time. We left around 11 and the party was going strong. It was a beautiful wedding, a great setting and the couple couldn’t have looked happier. Congratulations Joe and Monica!

Palm Sunday

There is a church on the hill at the end of our street. It is a fairly rustic looking church with an excellent location high on the mountainside. Rigo, our landlord, mentioned that on Palm Sunday there would be a palm procession down the street. I went to the corner and found the vendors selling palm crosses and other palm items. I got my palms and got ready to watch the procession. Many people gathered in the street, probably 150 or so. Most were dressed in white and all had palm fronds or crosses. A young boy was dressed as a king complete with a crown of thorns. The priest spoke and blessed the crowd. There were guitar players and songs were sung. The entire group walked up the hill to the church for the Palm Sunday mass.
On Good Friday, the church had a “stations of the cross” procession around the neighborhood, too. They went to a number of houses in the area, sang and prayed.