Mr. & Mrs.

I am writing this blog post in a van. It seems like I’ve spent a lot of time in vans lately, yet I never fully get used to the way buses and other vehicles big and small come hurtling at us in our lane from the other direction. Passing here is an art form—one I hope never to learn, but an art form nonetheless. It’s a daring dance of horns, quick judgment, muscling in and giving way. Somehow this seems to work and I’ve only ever seen one accident on the major roads.

It usually takes a few drinks for things to tilt at this angle.

 

Riding around the country as I have over the last three weeks and then landing in often breathtaking destinations has me really taking stock of this experience. Sure, I eat ants, live in fear of giant spiders, weep at my environmental footprint and grit my teeth at the stares and harassment, but there’s also a lot to appreciate. This weekend, as I sat next to the ocean, basking in the sun at an open air restaurant, munching on calamari and drinking mango juice after a morning of body surfing, I took a moment to think about how lucky I am and how special this is. I looked around. I gave thanks for the roaring yet gentle surf, for the palm trees as far as the eye could see, for the stunning brown and electric blue bird that flew into the tree around us and for the smell of the ocean and that feeling of being warmed to your core by the sun’s rays. I’m taking a moment again now as we careen through the lush green countryside. Jagged cliff faces, prime for rock climbing, the fresh country air, green green everywhere except for the cloudless blue sky.

It’s a good life.

For the second weekend in a row, I was down south. This time it was a beach town called Mirissa. It is about half an hour beyond Unawatuna and worth the extra trek. Mirissa is gorgeous and unspoilt. The beach is pristine, uncrowded, laid back and free of hawkers. The water is clear and you can walk out pretty far and still be able to stand with your head above the surf. It’s a much more frolic friendly bay and our new favourite spot.

We went to Mirissa for our friends A&A’s wedding.  Jesse’s friend Sam is visiting from the U.K. and A&A were kind enough to invite him to join in the fun.

Sam, Jesse and I in the tri-shaw on the way to the wedding.

 The wedding took place at a private house owned by the president of Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide advertising (I think that’s what the manager said anyway.) After a challenging tri-shaw ride through a pond, over the railway tracks and then up, up, up an unpaved mountainside, we arrived at the venue. It was a spectacular venue, perched atop the hill overlooking the ocean and the valleys for 360 degrees with wild peacocks in the bushes around the property. We enjoyed beverages as the two bridesmaids, both British, awaited a woman who was supposed to help them put on their saris. When she never showed, a couple of the guests were put into work and all was good to go.

 

The wedding took place on the lawn in a gazebo –type structure officiated by a Sri Lankan woman. Sri Lankan weddings, it turns out are not so much audience friendly fare. After the bride walked down the aisle, she and the groom and their witnesses sat with the officiant in the gazebo signing the certificate and other documentation in triplicate. The slightly tips crowd got restless. This is the first wedding I’ve attended with heckling. It was hilarious. And then that was that, they were married. No vows, no ring exchange that I noticed. They did kiss, but that seemed to be of their doing, not part of the ceremony.

The Wedding

 And then the party began. 

 

And oh how we partied. The food was magnificent – an outdoor buffet with grilled lobster, shrimp, calamari and tuna as well as pastas, baked potato (with sour cream! I was in heaven), Sri Lankan curries and other meats should the seafood not tickle your fancy. After dinner, the bride and groom ushered us back to the lawn where they had arranged an awesome fireworks display. And then the dancing began.

Y'all want this party started ri-iight?

 

The various dance stylings from the evening

The bride and me before things got too out of hand

It was exactly the kind of vibe I would want at my wedding. At the beginning, I predicted a fun crazy night that would end with an impromptu soccer game on the beach. I was wrong. Instead, it ended with the groom topless, several guests falling down, one passing out in a tree, and one swimming in the pool fully dressed. For the record, I was none of these people, but needless to say it was a good night.