Wow. The
past six weeks or so have been such an incredible blur of love, camaraderie,
and adventure that we haven’t really had time to reflect on the significance of
things. We’re here in Cuenca, Ecuador,
settling in bit by bit, and we’ve finally stopped going long enough to take a deep breath and appreciate how
extraordinarily blessed we are. We’ve
got hard drives full of pictures and videos, and as we look through them, the
most common thought is, “wow, did that really happen?”
In January, we decided the wedding would be in
Costa Rica. It’ll be a nice, simple
beach wedding we reasoned, and because of the cost, probably small. At least our immediate family would show up,
we hoped. At that point we didn’t really
realize how big our immediate family was.
Fast forward to a week before the ceremony, and I remember riding a
beach cruiser somewhere in Playa Cocles.
I looked back and saw a line of bicycles, all politely riding single
file on the side of the road, and I couldn’t see the end of it. Were we really rolling 20 deep in a tropical
gringo bike mob?
Actually, at the height of the insanity, the size
of our entourage had approached 50 people, which is still a little bit
unbelievable. Many more of our loved
ones wanted to come but for various reasons were unable to make it. We missed you all dearly, but in the end it
was probably for the best, as we’re not sure Puerto Viejo could have handled
any more of us.
This is supposed to be the wedding blog, but in
reality the wedding/reception/honeymoon started the moment we arrived in San
José and came to a close (wait, it is
over, right?) when we left. It was an
entire month of quality time, traveling with our closest friends and loved
ones. The guests came and went in a
pattern that, on paper, would look a lot like a bell curve—a few in the
beginning, then rising suddenly to many, and tapering off to a few at the end.
Shoutouts to the early arrivals—Aaron, Maria, Mike
W., and Rubia. They helped us figure out
a lot of things and iron out some of the wrinkles to make things easier for
everyone else (like when Rubia got gringo-taxed and had to buy a second bus
ticket, or when Aaron had his wallet and iPhone stolen at Rocking J’s—oh wait,
no, he just misplaced it in his freaking pocket. What a pan.)
We left the U.S. with all these big intentions of
traveling around to various places, visiting Panamá, climbing mountains in the
jungle, and more. But after the 5-hour
bus ride to Puerto Viejo, we all seemed content to chill on the beach for the
majority of the time, and that’s what we did.
The first week was highlighted by falling in love with casados de chuleta (basically rice and
beans with porkchops), and then trying the dish in as many different sodas as
we could to find the best. The verdict: Soda Chocolate in Bribri. The best in Puerto Viejo (and a very close
second overall) was easily Café Wolaba.
Eventually, we gave in to our starving artist tendencies and figured out that we could make casados de chuleta for a lot cheaper on our own, and we didn’t do too bad of a job once we learned that rice and beans take forever to cook, and started cooking huge batches and stockpiling it, Costco style (Costco Rico style, even). Every evening, the communal kitchen and lounge area at Hostel Pagalú was bubbling with laughter, conversation, the aromas of delicious food, and countless games of Pusoy Dos. In the daytime, we rode bikes, relaxed on the beach, got shouted at by monkeys—it was exactly what a lazy summer should be.
The next batch to arrive included Tony, Charlie,
and Leia’s parents. Things proceeded
similarly, and we started doing more adventurous things as well. A six mile hike through Cahuita National Park
let us glimpse into a treasure trove of flora and fauna. Within the first two hours inside the park
(somehow we managed to leave early morning) we had seen sloths, monkeys,
several types of venomous snakes, raccoons, squirrels (including normal looking
ones you might see back home, and others that looked like their evil
step-cousins), birds, and more. The
raccoons, by the way, were the ballsiest little buggers we’ve ever seen. One of them scrambled out of the trees and
onto the beach where Leia’s dad was standing next to a closed, fully loaded
backpack. With no concern for the 6-foot
human and his attempts to chase it away, the little raccoon grabbed the bag by
its straps and started to drag it away, little by little. It took about 10 people shouting, throwing
rocks, and waving sticks to make it relent.
Raccoons is gangsta.
Jason’s family arrived one night as Mestizo Magic
logged their first official gig in Central America, at Tasty Waves Cantina in
Playa Cocles, and the debauchery began to increase exponentially. Levi has an uncanny knack for turning an ok
party into a rager simply by jumping up and down repeatedly. A great gaggle of guests visited the Jaguar
Rescue Center—a rehabilitation facility for wild animals that have been injured
or confiscated from people who kept them as pets. For many, this was a highlight of the
trip. In addition to seeing more than a
dozen species of venomous snakes, we got to see sloths up close (they’re always
smiling!), caimans, a beautiful big cat called a margay, several types of
tropical birds, and a coati, led by a really knowledgeable guide who had great
insights to share about each animal. The
best part, however, was when we were herded into an enclosure—about 20’ x 20’—and
allowed (well, some of us forced) to play with adorable one year old howler
monkeys. They were the cutest things
ever, like little kids that can climb on your head even when you’re not laying
down. You could just reach out your hand
to one, and it would grab you with its hand or its tail and eventually start
crawling all over you and using you as a jungle gym.
More and more people were arriving every day,
until suddenly it was time for the main event.
August 27th, 2011, the most important and incredible day of
our lives began with . . . a water shortage.
To be precise, there was no running water in the entire hotel. Either because of excessive use or because of
a leak, the well had run dry overnight, and in the morning we had a
predicament. Something bad was bound to
happen, and this was it. Fortunately,
they managed to get one shower switched onto a reserve tank, and the restaurant
next door let us use their shower as well.
Shit sometimes happens in the jungle, and we’re proud of the fact that
even our most fastidious guests managed to take it in stride and take care of
business.
Everyone did their own thing in the morning, going
into town for breakfast, sleeping off hangovers, etc. Many people went to Bread & Chocolate to
savor their last delicious breakfast at a restaurant that had become something
of an addiction. Some were intrepid
enough to visit the Jaguar Rescue Center, go snorkeling, and ride bikes all
over town before lunch time. After noon,
most people were back at the hotel slowly getting ready. Aliyah (niece of the groom) walked around
using her most intimidating faces to collect money for the charter bus back to
San Jose the next day. Leia got ready
with her bridesmaids; Darlene did her hair.
Jason was at the bus station trying to arrange the next day’s transport
and got back to the hotel 30 minutes before the wedding. Ultimately, everything and everyone was
prepared and looking fabulous on time.
The guests began to filter down to the beach as
Jason’s dad played classical guitar.
Dozens of onlookers stopped and watched from a distance—we were assured
this sort of thing was a rarity in Puerto Viejo. In came the family of the bride, followed by
the groomsmen and bridesmaids. Aliyah
threw flower petals in the path of the coming bride. When Leia started walking down the aisle,
escorted by her father, she was absolutely glowing. It could have been from three weeks spent
lying on the beach in the tropics, or it could’ve been because it was the
happiest day of her life, but either way she looked radiant. Jason looked alright. 
Janis (sister of the groom) officiated the
ceremony, which to the certain delight of the guests, lasted only ten
minutes. The bride and groom promised
their undying love and commitment to each other, it was made official, and then
they made out. After the ceremony it was
time for pictures with our amazing personal photographer, Maria Villote, and
random other guests who didn’t mind that everyone in their pictures would be
looking slightly to the left.
The bride and groom were the last to return to the
hotel, where the reception was held.
Their first dance as a married couple was “In Love with You” by Erykah
Badu with Ziggy Marley. (This was a much
debated subject, but Ms. Badu eventually won out over Enrique Iglesias’ “Tonight
I’m F***ing You”). The bride, groom, and
guests enjoyed a delicious Caribbean meal of rice and beans, patacones, salad,
and pork, beef, or chicken.
There was a champagne toast; the maid of honor,
Annabelle Ferrer gave a heartfelt speech and went a full 30 seconds before
starting to cry (making Leia cry). Aaron
Dadacay, the best man, followed with a speech that can only be described as a
derailing train full of Ebola-infected clowns that somehow managed to avoid
plunging over the fast-approaching cliff, and in doing so transformed itself
from something tragic and disturbing into something entertaining and
endearing. The mic was then opened to
all comers; only Janis, the father of the bride, and the father of the groom
took the initiative. The cake was cut, and then the cake was ate.
The father-daughter dance was followed by the
garter and bouquet tosses (Aaron caught the garter; Maria boxed out all
competitors, using a previously unknown athletic prowess to grab the flying
bouquet from the air). And then the
party started. The music was turned up,
drinks started flowing, and people started dancing. The rest of the night is history and will
live on epically only in the memories of those who were fortunate enough to be
there. Oh wait, there’s pictures . . .
hope no one’s planning on running for public office.
We want to extend our deepest appreciation and
thanks to everyone who is a part of our lives and made this event possible—all
the family and friends who made it down to Costa Rica and made this trip and
our wedding the most incredible, unforgettable experience of our entire lives;
all of our family and friends who couldn’t make it to Costa Rica, but came to
wish us well at our open house in Oxnard; and all of our family and friends who
wanted to but couldn’t make it to either.
And of course, thanks for all the money! Leia’s been a starving student for several
years now, and Jason’s been volunteering with the Peace Corps, so there’s no
way we would have been able to pull this off if our loved ones hadn’t opened up
their hearts (and wallets) to us. Your
gifts have not only made possible the wedding celebration itself, but have
given us a great building block with which to start our new life together. Keep in mind that in many places here in
South America, a hotel room costs about $12 per night, so however small or
large your gift was, it’s going to go a long, long way.
We love each and every one of you with the
entirety of our being, and we already miss you terribly, but we’re excited about
this whole life thing, so we’re going to ride it out and see where it takes
us. We’ll see you all soon, whether it’s
when we come back to the states to visit, or (even better) when you traipse
across the globe to visit us. There is
always space in our hearts and on our couch for you. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, as we’re
doing the same. More pictures and video on the way.
With more love than we thought it possible to
muster,
Jason & Leia
Jason & Leia
