Hello again from Puerto Rico!

Good news: I have had a problem with the cell phone internet connection that I just got straightened up tonight (Sunday
night), so at least I can continue sending stuff out.

PICS ARE HERE!!!  I am in the process of uploading various pictures that we've taken down here.  They are probably going
to be a bit out of sync with the BobLogs, as it takes a lot of time to do the logs as well as the pics.  But I'll try.

You can view the pictures here:
http://bobpuff.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=3
Please note that this is a work-in-progress - more pics will be added when I have time.  It takes a LONG time to upload
using this 1/2 dialup speed connection.


I'm a bit backlogged due to the busy days here, so this is going a bit from memory.

Saturday, 07/22/06: Thankfully, someone must have dealt with the Rooster, as he didn't wake me at 4:30 this time.  I did
wake up around 6, and finally got up an hour or so later.  Messed around a bit with my computer, but couldn't get it
connected to the internet enough to pass traffic.  I did go through some pics, and titled them.

Went over to Willy's place, where Patty made me a couple turkey and cheese sandwitches for breakfast.  Just outside my
place, one of the relatives was doing people's hair for very inexpensive prices.  After showing my pics to everyone, I
went back to my place to get changed and ready for the wedding, which was to take place at 1:00PM.

We were pretty much ready by 12:15, so most of us went to the church to take care of some last-minute details.  Scotty
went over the audio stuff, and CDs that were to be played.  Brenda was the lady who apparently was in charge of
coordinating things, and she was giving some last-minute details.  We ended up waiting for additional relatives to come,
and the service started around 1:30PM.

Everyone looked very nice, including Gladys!  Loida, their daughter sang a solo, as did another lady.  They both sang
very well, despite the hostile acoustic environment!  The entire service was in spanish, but all I had to do was put a
rope around Willy, then take it off.  (I think this relates to part of a Jewish wedding tradition.)

The service ended just after 2PM, and we all got in the van and took off for the reception, after being in the receiving
line.  The wedding was attended mostly by family, so there were about 40 people there.

The reception was at a party house/club that was a little ways away (it seems EVERTHING here takes a while to get to!).
 There were definitely more people at the reception.  Our table was on the same side as the musicians and the air
conditioning.  Yes, the first place we stayed any length of time where there was cool air!!!  Yeaaaa!

Things went a lot faster than I expected here.  After we were announced, and entered the room, I think the band played
one song, then we went right to the toast.  The minute the band started playing, I immediately ran for the restroom.
I've heard some loud stuff, been a part of some loud stuff, but this was far beyond loud.  Scotty, who can take loud,
followed me right in, and we created earplugs out of paper toweling.  The level at our table must have been at least
110dB, probably higher.  COmpare this to my usual peak of 95dB for our outdoor concerts, and you can get an inkling of
how stinkin' loud it was!  They musically were good - just too loud and distorted.  The earplugs we made at least made
life tolerable.

I was to participate in part of the toast, shared with another relative.  All throughout this vacation, I've been
repeating the one phrase I knew how to say in spanish - "Mi nombre es Bob!" (My name is Bob.)  I was going to play off
of that as a humerous thing, but alas, the toast came so soon that I hadn't gathered all my thoughts together, and I
didn't end up saying or doing a good part of what I had intended.  Oh well..

Immediately following that was the dance.  Willy and GLadys (and the rest of us in the wedding party) were to dance the
Waltz. This is the moment we had been waiting for, and went to dance lessons for.  Patty and I had practiced using the
song "Moon River".  The band played some song in 3/4 timing, but it was fast!  Too fast for what we were ready to do.
We made the best of it, but I was a little disappointed.

There was a considerable time prior to the buffet being served (Pasta, Chicken, Pork, Rice & Beans, salad), and I was
not to be cheated out of the time and money we spent learning dances, so we danced... They played mostly merengue and
salsa music.  We did the merengue as best as we could, given the small area.

Willy was having the time of his life!  He was up and dancing with Gladys, some of the other relatives, even me!  We
made up moves, and had a lot of fun!  When the band took a break, we did some songs.  They brought a 4-string bass for
Willy, I played the keyboard, Scotty played the sad drum set, Isaac had his guitar, and one of Willy's close friends
played the congas.  The mixer was next to me, so I was able to turn things down a bit.  I did my best to do some latin
piano!  We had a lot of fun.

Ate, and danced some more.  By the time the band was just about done, they still had not played anything other than
salsa and merengue... and Patty and I had spent a lot of time learning the Rhumba.  I had my laptop full of music, so I
asked one of the guys in the band if I could play a song on my laptop.  He let me do it after they were done, so I
played "Sway", and Patty and I did our thing... came out pretty well!

Things wrapped up around 7:30PM, so we helped clean things up, and came home.  Went over to the church to put everything
back to normal, as they were obviously having a service the next morning.  Finished that, then people went to their
respective homes - we were all a bit tired.  I hung out at Willy's house, where he settled in to a recliner and started
snoring... what a thing to do on your wedding night!! hehe!

I managed to snag pictures from Brenda's camera, as well as Patty's.  Unfortunately, Elaine had our cameras, and one of
the relatives gave her a video camera to operate at the last minute, so we didn't get many pictures of the ceremony itself.

I got to bed around 11PM.. the end of a very eventful day!