More Wedding Photos & Aerobic Dance, Part Deux

Bride and groom during the ceremony (outside the bride's house)

In the bridal bedroom

My house transformed in the spirit of marital celebration!

The newlyweds with his younger sisters and their children

With the bride and the groom during the day--in the green is the bride's younger sister--my good friend, the local massage specialist

Bride and groom at night with the bride's niece (she also fulfilled the role as the equivalent to maid of honor)

Aerobic dance winners for the 5th year in a row! Check out their outfits

Ready or not here I come to dance!

Our team from Jaidee village 11--there are 3 villages in this residential area

These are pics from the week of March 13-19--aka a very busy week for yours truly! Unfortunately, since I have spent a considerable amount of time re-vamping my blog today, I don't have much time to elaborate on the pictures. Though, most of them speak for themselves. I will say that our aerobic dance practice was cut short this year. We ended up doing the same routine from last year--same group only we lost a few and because of the wedding and menagerie going on at my house (also, because I had terrible allergies) I was only able to attend one practice before competition day--in front of the entire community! Suffice to say, our dance moves were less than perfect but the judges appreciated our enthusiasm and we ended up with 4th place--out of 11. Not bad! It was a great day all in all. I spent from 9AM to 6PM at the health station and went home exhausted but happy. Plus, it was not as near as blistering hot as it was last year. I only took 1 shower! (as opposed to 3-4).

Now it's all tumbling to an end! We just had a meeting today about the details of my departure. It was a little dreamlike sitting there in a room observing people talk about my last days here and adding a few anecdotes about me. A dialog in which I contributed nothing to other than smiling and nodding when appropriate. Almost like I watching a movie about me--in a different language--imagining the subtitles and pretense behind every smile and every giggle. Very strange!
Anyways, Monday is the big day for going-away ceremonial stuff and one big community meal at my office. They even made invitations to give all the villagers. I'm getting excited/sad/nervous--not unlike the very first day I came here! Before I know it, the van will be honking in front of my house at 5AM on Tuesday to take me to the Peace Corps Office in Bangkok. And it will all be over. I'll be traveling with a caravan of my closest constituents. Karaoke, laughter, tears (mostly mine because you know, I'm more of an outwardly emotional creature than my Thai friends), gift giving, and spicy food will likely ensue.

I'll try to update more as I near the end.

Be well!