an unusual start and a satisfying finish

I'm getting used to the spontaneity of the culture here...and I sometimes prefer it to my highly scheduled and rigid way of life state-side. Even though I think I function better in this environment in some ways, sometimes it's a little too crazy for me. Take this morning for instance:

At around 7.30am, I got a text message from a girl I was pretty close to when I first arrived. She invited myself and a select few to her wedding...which was at 10.30am. TODAY. I was pretty floored, but a few friends and I scrambled with our schedules and made it to her wedding (or the whisk-the-bride-away-from-her-family-and-old-way-of-life day).

It turned out that the reason why it was so quick was that the fiance's brothers were visiting from other countries and decided that the marriage should take place before they went back. So even though her mother and a sister are in the States and another sister/best friend is in France, she got whisked away. It puts a whole new meaning to "keep your lamps trimmed and burning," huh. It was a cold and dreary morning - and it was quite dreary inside, too. I've been to several weddings and parts of weddings, and this was most certainly the saddest. Nearly everyone was crying, and I needed Kleenex a few times, too. Even now, I'm a little shell-shocked and, well, sad.

The rest of the day, however, was very sweet. I've been wanting to do a progressive dinner with the youth for about a month - actually for about a year. We couldn't do it for Christmas because so much else was going on. Then I busted my ankle around New Years and was in too much pain to think (and didn't have crutches yet)...so it happened today. And, again, it was sweet.

We started at the Center at 1.30pm and walked (i rode) to one family's home. We started our traditional lunch with a glass of soda followed by Turkish coffee and a Turkish delight. Then the group continued to another house for yummy chicken broth soup. A van then picked us up and took us to a village where we ate cabbage salad, bean soup, and lots of bread. The van then took us to a family's house for Russian (black) tea and peanuts. Finally, the group went to my apartment for cake (shh...we didn't have fruit like we probably should have to make it a complete traditional meal). They just left - around 9.30pm. ...quite a day.

Again, it was sweet - on a number of levels. It was neat to see the group getting along so well; joking, laughing, singing, eating, playing games, "spending the time." It was very cool to see believers in the homes of believers - the first time that 2 of these families have had non-Ms from the fellowship to their homes. It was mad fun (and lllloud) to ride in the van with youth belting wedding songs and being collectively silly with one another. And it was lovely to sit back and see how little I had to do. The whole thing cost me 12 euros (10 for the van; 2 for enough bread for 18 ppl). Eight hours of fun and 16-18 young people (counting the number of family members: 28 ppl total)...that's a lot of people! And it rocked because the work was all spread out. AND it was faboo to see the progress that's been made in maturity and relationally. Sigh. I feel so full right now.

(oh wait - that's because I've been eating non-stop from 1.30pm).