Day 18 - Day 21

Life is a collection of moments... very few good ones, mind it... and I've collected some of the absolute friggin' memorable ones in the first 3 days...

Ania has a large family... mother, father, one brother, four sisters, their husbands/boyfriends, their children, aunts, uncles, cousins... There were three houses at disposal for the entire family... One was her mother's where the preparations were on full swings... second was of her maternal uncle's which was right across her mother's... and the third one was a bit far away, but the cleanest and the grandest... this belonged to her sister, Dorotha, who lived with her husband and her two sons, Simon and Conrad, who were verrrrry cute... Thankfully, Dorotha invited us to stay at her place during the stay, because Wiktor needed a hushed environment to sleep, and the other places were just overflowing with guests...

The marriages here are obviously very different from Indian traditional marriages... We are talking about Christians here... and the Polish country is one of the most strongest for it's Christianity... Mrs. Rowling sure was inspired by their dining tables (for the stuff on it) to narrate the dining tables from Hogwarts... There were around 25 different types of cakes... There was soda, juice, fruits, salads, god knows how many kind of meat items, and unlimited liquor... the best of the sweet wines and vodkas... and no wonder, people dance like nobody's business... (well, the vodka works in other ways too... I witnessed some very nasty fist fights... my girlfriend, your girlfriend, global saga... and some just joined in for fun...) But, when the vodka dissolved in my gastric acid, I definitely danced like it is my family business!!! And, after every 15 minutes, a new dish was served... and mind, the party went on for 2 days, afternoon 2 to after midnight 2... Well, I had limited options... but no qualms...

Well, on the first day, I started off dancing with people older than 50 and younger than 12... But, should I really complain when I get to dance with the couple's only daughter or when the groom's father has his first and the only dance with me? He works in Canada and speaks broken English... 'Ayaam soory, ayaam merrid, eef not, yoo me girlfren..!!' And was he really smitten... What appealed to them about me, beats me... but I am happy to know that I'm beautiful in Poland (at least)!!

By the evening, I had got a real good hang of their dance (it was casual, nothing cultural or traditional)... Basically, the guy leads and the girl follows the lead... So, all I had to do was to be in sync with my partner and be flexible enough to sway to the tunes with him... I underestimated Ania's uncles for their strengths... They were mighty enough to lift me off my feet and swirl me around... And I was very afraid they might discover a broken rib!

As we have in birthday parties, they have games in their marriages... And very notorious ones... there were like competitions... first was among girls... any 5 girls... They played musical chair, but with a slight difference... As the music stops, the host will state the name of a thing which every girl has to find before securing a seat... and the girls must run helter skelter trying to fetch the prop and pounce on the chairs... things like bananas, car keys, and the winning props was male pants... this last round went biased... because, out of the two contenders, one had a boyfriend who readily stripped, while the other girl just stared at whatever was happening and stood helpless...

the next was among guys... they were given 5 minutes to carry in their arms, all the possible girls (obviously one at a time) to the center of the game area, highest toll winning... To my horror, I was very close to the center... and one of the first females to be drawn aboard!! Well, I understood the game only when it was over, because the medium of instruction was inevitably Polish, but in those moments where this guy actually dug his hands in my chair to lift me up and carried me to the center of the game area, I went numb by the mere fact that SOMEONE CAN!!

These games went on much after I had to leave with Ania for home as it was time for Wiktor to sleep...

The next morning, Dorotha dropped Ania, Wiktor and me at their mother's place, from where we were supposed to leave for the party in the afternoon! My stupid menses had to find this very day to enlighten my month!! I had no idea what was coming up... some more rituals... some reception... some gathering... no idea!! but I expected there would be dancing for sure... and so I decided to stay low and conserve energy... I found a sofa in some lonesome corner of the house and fell asleep within minutes... I faintly remember Ania's mother putting a rug on me...

Some one was tugging my pants... I rubbed my eyes and opened them to see some stranger shouting at me in Polish... It took some time for me to remind myself of my whereabouts... This guy, well above 50, pulled away my rug, still shouting and pointing outside the door of the room... I got up, adjusted my looks and followed him outside... When I had gone in to sleep, there was no one in this room... now, it was filled with as many as 15 people... about 12 of them sitting at a table... everybody was talking... I deduced, about me... I just shrugged my shoulders at them...

They gestured me to sit down on this only empty chair...

"Yoo don spik Poolish?"

This was a spectacled guy around my age, sitting beside me... the only guy I had felt noticeable before and during the wedding...

"You speak English?"

"Littal"

"Oh! What is he saying?" I pointed out to the guy who dragged me out of my sleep.

"He saying, yoo must not slip, but dreenk wit us for da paarty"

Poland is a country of Wodka (as they spell it) and Cheese... both of which I have exploited *wink wink*... It is also a country of Love (read sex), Children and the Christ... Well, I know only three Polish words, 'Dzień dobry!!' That's Polish hello... pronounced as 'Jin-do-brei'... 'Dziękuję!!' - which mean Thank you... pronounced as 'Jin-kui-ye'... and the inevitable 'Na zdrowie' which this guy introduced me to - you say it when you cling the glasses, as in 'cheers'... pronounced as 'Naz-dro-veya'... yes, I used it around 4 times on the first day (2 for Vodkas and 2 for Wines)... and people around here almost don't know English... Except for, 'Super!!' (which they used for me loads, and they called me Britney Spears for unknown reasons!!)... But, in spite of the language gap, there was no communication gap! I gelled around here like butter on hot bread... With actions, expressions and a word or two from either of the languages, we had long conversations... They asked me about India, its religion, its beliefs, its wedding traditions and whether it is ok to have sex before marriage... haah!! and they were surprised to get a negetion!!

The session went on for an hour at least... the custom was to say 'zdrowie' to the person on your left, gulp the peg of wodka, empty the last few drops in the small wodka glass by shaking it upside down, and filling it up for the next person (who is on your left)... Well, I took some time to get a hang of it, but I was 'smart' as this guy told me... Well, it never dawned on me to ask his name... I should have!! He was helping me a lot!

In no time, we rode to the same place we were, the day before! Only difference was, I was a bit tipsy! The music started and dance came to me like it was my lost puppy! All thanks to the 40%!! I enjoyed the next few hours like they were going to be my last!! I was a bit skeptical till I danced with this translator guy... He is a good dancer, and just by looking at him dance, my inhibitions were shed... and for the rest of the evening, I danced for myself, little caring about who am I dancing with... surprisingly, not tripping once, even though I was wearing a good 3 inches heals!!

Got home tired, jumped into the bed, and my yawn turned into a snore half way...