Jaffe

Italy in August - Part 5: The Wedding

The reason Serena and I went to Italy in the middle of August, the height of the peak season, is because she was a witness in her friend Catia's wedding. Being a witness in a European wedding isn't like being a witness in a trial (there are some obvious jokes to make here about the similarities between getting married and being sent to prison); a 'witness' at a wedding is what we would call a 'bridesmaid' or 'groomsman' in the States.

Catia and Assagid's wedding was in Francavilla, a town next to Pescara where Catia grew up. Assagid is from Ethiopia, and the two of them met while living and working in Würzburg. Serena and I flew into Pescara from London the day before the wedding, where we were met by Claudia, a friend of Serena's from medical school, who drove us to the hotel in central Pescara.

The morning of the wedding, Serena and I walked around central Pescara, which was pretty quiet outside of a street market that took up a few of the blocks between the hotel and the train station. It turned out to be a good find, since I forgot my belt and had to run out to get one from the market just before the wedding. Nothing like practicing my Italian with a street vendor - I even haggled to get a little discount.

The wedding was held in a small, simple, pretty church. Although I've been to more Christian weddings than Jewish weddings, and several of my childhood friends went to Catholic school, I would hardly say I was an expert on Christianity. This became apparent when I showed Serena's father this picture:



If you look closely, in front of Catia and Assagid you'll see a statue of a man lifting up his gown to reveal one of his legs. I found the statue very strange, but I waited until we were in Salerno before I asked Serena's father the question I was dying to ask someone at the wedding:

Why is Jesus lifting up his gown to show his leg?

Needless to say this question was met with a quizzical look. However, understanding that I was completely serious, he simply replied,"That's not Jesus, it's Saint Rocco." He followed that up with something to avoid any confusion in the future:

If it were Jesus, he would have been on a cross.

'nuff said. We all had a good laugh, as I explained that I had no idea why there was a dog next to the man depicted in the statue, and figured it was Jesus' pet dog, rather than the dog who saved St. Rocco's life by offering him bread.

Anyway, I put this question out of my mind as soon as we left the church and we all took little bags of rice, chocolate covered almonds, and coins to throw on Catia and Assagid as they left the church. I decided that the coins and chocolate covered almonds would hurt, so I pocketed the coins and ate the almonds before chucking the rice on the newlyweds.

The reception was held in a banquet hall on a hill overlooking Pescara, and it began with the antipasti, which were served outside as the sun set. It was hard to believe that we were going to get more food after the appetizers, which included a huge selection of different types of fish, seafood, and meat from the region. We had dinner inside in the main dining hall - more dishes with seafood and fish. The food was delicious, even if it was a little too much for a fan of the kiddie menu like me. Dessert was served outside by the pool, and was a buffet with as many choices as you could ever hope for. The only downside was that by the time we were all done eating, it was extremely late and everyone was stuffed and tired, so we didn't have a chance to dance. It was a shame, because I was looking forward to doing some traditional Ethiopian dancing with Serena:

Labels: food, Italy, religion, travel, vacation, wedding

posted by Aron @ 6:55 PM