Deep Breaths

It's a Concert! It's a Rave! It's a ... Wedding??

Let's see... where were we? Oh, right... Sunday.

Sunday morning Leia and I attended a service at a place called New Life, which is an English-speaking congregation. We went there for the purpose of hand-delivering some invitations to our wedding (don't get me started), but the experience turned out to be pretty enjoyable. The people were very friendly and welcoming and it was nice to sing a couple of songs that I recognized and that consisted entirely of words that I know how to pronounce properly. The congregation seems like a pretty eclectic mix, everything from former Anglicans to full-fledged Pentecostals, with the only common denominators seeming to be the language and their commitment to each other as a community (which was very commendable and refreshing to see).

Sunday night we attended a Greek wedding reception that was completely surreal. The hall that it was held in had a huge stage, complete with a band that blended hard rock (their drummer was in a big drum cage) with more traditional Greek instruments like the bouzouki. There were giant projection screens filled with psychedelic images (sort of like glorified screen savers, really), colored lights flashing everywhere, smoke... you get the picture. All of this while several hundred people are having dinner and screaming at each other above the circus, trying to be heard. Then, the coup de grace: a section of the stage (which was quite high) sunk down out of view of the crowd, only to be slowly raised back up (amid appropriately dramatic music) bearing the bride and groom and the cake table, as the audience cheered thunderously. Seriously, what could be more tasteful and understated than that? Needless to say, Leia and I spent the evening being alternately amused and horrified. (Fear not, this is not typical of most weddings here, nor will our wedding be anything like that).

The last couple days have actually been fairly relaxing. Monday night we met up with some old friends of Leia's at Starbucks. It ended up being two other couples, each of whom had a young child, and us. We had a great time chatting and catching up, and at the end of the evening we got to make fun of them because they had to rush home and put their kids to bed, whilst we were free (theoretically) to party late into the night. In reality, we let them get out of sight and then left ourselves so that Leia could get to bed early enough to get up for school.. but that can just be our secret. Then last night the two of us went out for a nice dinner at a place called Cafe La Mode, and just crashed afterward. It's been cool getting a bit of a breather this week, and it's even going to continue today—we're leaving in a little while to go down to the beachfront at Larnaca and plan our next youth group lesson for Friday night (let the jealousy commence).

Not that we haven't been getting things done for the wedding. This week Leia had a trial with a hairdresser and found a general style that she likes, she took her dress to a seamstress to make some final alterations, we're taking the material for her maid of honor's dress to a dressmaker in Larnaca later today, and this morning we went and filled out all the necessary civil paperwork for our marriage. So things are slowly coming together. Hopefully our health and sanity will hold up a bit longer.

So there you have it. You're all caught up now. Sorry about the intermittent updates, but we're thrilled to hear that so many people are keeping up with our blog and enjoying it. We really want to hear from all of you, whether it's through the comment system or just via email. Let us know what's going on in your respective corners of the world, and see if you can submit a crazy wedding reception story that can top ours. We miss you all, and we're starting to get very excited about seeing so many of you next month. Thank you for your love and your prayers.

–John

posted by John and Leia @ 2:24 AM