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allekhaLast weekend, one of Z's longtime friends was getting married, and he talked me into me into being his +1 for it. (Another couple of his friends who were at that wedding are getting married this weekend, too, and we're going to that one as well.)
I was under the impression that it was in the city they live in, which is a few hours away but not that bad of a drive. A couple of days before we left, Z told me that in fact, they were getting married ten hours to the south. Z loves road trips. I really, really do not like long car drives, but at that point plane tickets were expensive, while train tickets were somewhat expensive, and also we would have to sleep in a train station or get a hotel or something to make a transfer. So we drove.
Thankfully, my parents live almost halfway in-between here and there, so we had a place to stay for a night and eat for free, and I got to see my parents :) My mom made a delicious coconut chickpea stew for us on the way down, and she bought the local ice cream I always miss for dessert. It was nice to talk to them in person again about my research and life and whatnot.
The ten-hour car drive did not take anywhere close to ten hours, because we hit really bad traffic several times, and because Z started feeling sick at one point and we had to stop to rest for a while. (I think it might have been caused by stress; he's been hit by bad luck with some work-related things, and at one point one slightly annoyed remark set both of us on an anxiety spiral for a few hours the first day.) Our five and a half hour drive on the second day turned into nine hours. It was a good thing we didn't leave any later than we did, because we parked at the B&B we were staying at twenty minutes before we were supposed to go to the wedding.
And then they didn't answer the doorbell or their phone. After ten minutes of trying to contact them, we gave up and changed into our formal wear in Z's car, since the parking lot was private and empty. (It turns out that we completely blipped on contacting them about checking in a couple of hours late, and they couldn't hear the doorbell in the part of the house they were in. They caught us on the way out and it all ended well.)
The wedding itself was lovely. I don't think it was super traditional - one of the parents read a Carl Sagan quote, nobody was given away (all parents gave permission instead), and the groom had a best woman. The ceremony itself was also not religious, since the bride and groom are of different religions. I didn't know anybody there except Z, but they seemed like a very happy couple with supportive families who get along well, and they wrote beautiful vows for each other. And it went smoothly, except that nobody knew which side of the aisle to sit on, and the groom had trouble breaking the glass xD He got it in the end, though! Good luck to them and their marriage.
My mom had warned me that the reception could get loud and reminded me to take earplugs. She was right. I would not have made it through the reception without them, but I could talk to people with them. There was plenty of vegetarian food that I enjoyed, including a giant wheel of paremesan that someone was melting with a blowtorch. Not entirely necessary, but fun to watch.
I did have to skip out once they started the dancing, because they turned the music up, then kept turning it up every couple of songs. When it got to the point where it was too loud for me standing on the opposite side of the room with earplugs, I left to go sit outside. Z stayed for a while longer to see his other friends and dance. Unfortunately he didn't get much of a chance to talk with the bride and groom (they were understandably very busy), but they're going to be at this other wedding, so hopefully they will have time to catch up then.
We slept well at the B&B, and the breakfast was delicious. Z ducked out to take some of his other friends to the airport, and then the other B&B guests left, so I had the couple running it all to myself. They were nice, but... I don't think I'd want to stay there again. One of them was conspiracy-minded (she asked me if it was true that 5G will have negative health effects and went on about how a smart electrical meter would make her sick), the other awkwardly brought up segregation back when he first visited the state several times (Z is neither white nor black), and both of them were extremely insistent that we would love to live in the area and that there are totally local job opportunities in our fields.
We stopped at my parents' again on the way back, after wading through traffic, and had Malaysian food with them. Z originally wanted to head right back out, but he was tired, I wanted a break from being in the car, and my parents were concerned about us hitting more traffic, so he took a nap and we left in the very early morning instead. Much better idea. I got some bad sleep in the car instead (and then another hour at home, before I zipped out for an ice dance lesson).
The whole adventure reminded me that I should probably learn how to drive - if for nothing else, in case Z gets seriously sick (or very tired or something) on a trip so we don't get stuck somewhere. So I have been doing online practice tests for the learner's permit. Might as well do it in the summer if I can.
I was under the impression that it was in the city they live in, which is a few hours away but not that bad of a drive. A couple of days before we left, Z told me that in fact, they were getting married ten hours to the south. Z loves road trips. I really, really do not like long car drives, but at that point plane tickets were expensive, while train tickets were somewhat expensive, and also we would have to sleep in a train station or get a hotel or something to make a transfer. So we drove.
Thankfully, my parents live almost halfway in-between here and there, so we had a place to stay for a night and eat for free, and I got to see my parents :) My mom made a delicious coconut chickpea stew for us on the way down, and she bought the local ice cream I always miss for dessert. It was nice to talk to them in person again about my research and life and whatnot.
The ten-hour car drive did not take anywhere close to ten hours, because we hit really bad traffic several times, and because Z started feeling sick at one point and we had to stop to rest for a while. (I think it might have been caused by stress; he's been hit by bad luck with some work-related things, and at one point one slightly annoyed remark set both of us on an anxiety spiral for a few hours the first day.) Our five and a half hour drive on the second day turned into nine hours. It was a good thing we didn't leave any later than we did, because we parked at the B&B we were staying at twenty minutes before we were supposed to go to the wedding.
And then they didn't answer the doorbell or their phone. After ten minutes of trying to contact them, we gave up and changed into our formal wear in Z's car, since the parking lot was private and empty. (It turns out that we completely blipped on contacting them about checking in a couple of hours late, and they couldn't hear the doorbell in the part of the house they were in. They caught us on the way out and it all ended well.)
The wedding itself was lovely. I don't think it was super traditional - one of the parents read a Carl Sagan quote, nobody was given away (all parents gave permission instead), and the groom had a best woman. The ceremony itself was also not religious, since the bride and groom are of different religions. I didn't know anybody there except Z, but they seemed like a very happy couple with supportive families who get along well, and they wrote beautiful vows for each other. And it went smoothly, except that nobody knew which side of the aisle to sit on, and the groom had trouble breaking the glass xD He got it in the end, though! Good luck to them and their marriage.
My mom had warned me that the reception could get loud and reminded me to take earplugs. She was right. I would not have made it through the reception without them, but I could talk to people with them. There was plenty of vegetarian food that I enjoyed, including a giant wheel of paremesan that someone was melting with a blowtorch. Not entirely necessary, but fun to watch.
I did have to skip out once they started the dancing, because they turned the music up, then kept turning it up every couple of songs. When it got to the point where it was too loud for me standing on the opposite side of the room with earplugs, I left to go sit outside. Z stayed for a while longer to see his other friends and dance. Unfortunately he didn't get much of a chance to talk with the bride and groom (they were understandably very busy), but they're going to be at this other wedding, so hopefully they will have time to catch up then.
We slept well at the B&B, and the breakfast was delicious. Z ducked out to take some of his other friends to the airport, and then the other B&B guests left, so I had the couple running it all to myself. They were nice, but... I don't think I'd want to stay there again. One of them was conspiracy-minded (she asked me if it was true that 5G will have negative health effects and went on about how a smart electrical meter would make her sick), the other awkwardly brought up segregation back when he first visited the state several times (Z is neither white nor black), and both of them were extremely insistent that we would love to live in the area and that there are totally local job opportunities in our fields.
We stopped at my parents' again on the way back, after wading through traffic, and had Malaysian food with them. Z originally wanted to head right back out, but he was tired, I wanted a break from being in the car, and my parents were concerned about us hitting more traffic, so he took a nap and we left in the very early morning instead. Much better idea. I got some bad sleep in the car instead (and then another hour at home, before I zipped out for an ice dance lesson).
The whole adventure reminded me that I should probably learn how to drive - if for nothing else, in case Z gets seriously sick (or very tired or something) on a trip so we don't get stuck somewhere. So I have been doing online practice tests for the learner's permit. Might as well do it in the summer if I can.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-20 12:17 pm (UTC)Learning to drive sounds like a good idea. The learning process is a pain in the ass, but after doing some practice it's pretty manageable. Good luck!
no subject
Date: 2019-06-21 11:12 pm (UTC)I've been avoiding learning since I really do not like cars, but. I should just buckle down and make myself do it.