Beach Wedding

Earlier this month, Lorena and I flew into Cancun for her childhood friendā€™s wedding in Playa del Carmen. Unlike the wedding in January, Lorena was part of the wedding party, so she was involved in the entire process leading up to the wedding and, of course, on the day of.

We also saw this as an opportunity to take some time for ourselves.

We ended up staying at the beautiful House of AiA hotel, which describes itself as a wellness retreat. I can agree with that. We got some massages, relaxed on the beach, ordered room service, ate at the vegan-vegetarian restaurants, and participated in a meditation session. It was unlike any hotel Iā€™ve stayed in before.

Dancing by the ocean.

The wedding was on Saturday, and it was really great ā€“ the most fun I have personally had at a wedding in Mexico. Lorena knew everyone on the brideā€™s side because she grew up with most of them. I know that she really enjoyed that part.

The ceremony and reception both took place on the beach, literal steps from the ocean. It was a smaller event, with around 80 people (compared to the ~250 at the one in January). This made it a more intimate evening as we had the chance to interact with everyone.

After the ceremony, we just walked to our tables. As the sun began to set, we ate our meals, talked with others at our table, and prepared for a night full of dancing.

There was a slight negative, unfortunately. I ate something that didnā€™t sit well with me, and I was throwing up the next day (it wasnā€™t alcohol, because I didnā€™t drink). I got over it pretty quickly though, as the hotel had a doctor on site, and gave me some shots to help with the nausea.

A week in Mexico City.

We spent a couple more days enjoying the hotel and weather before we left for Mexico City, where we spent a week with Lorenaā€™s parents, older sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. It was mostly chill, but we did have one day when some family came over for a dinner to celebrate my father-in-lawā€™s birthday as well as my own.

I havenā€™t written much about it lately, but itā€™s in moments like these that I realize how far I have come with my Spanish. I spoke nearly the entire time with friends and family in Spanish. Iā€™m fluent, but Iā€™m not perfect. That said, with each of these interactions, I get a little bit better.

We are home now, and I must admit that it feels really good. Iā€™m looking forward to getting into a more regular routine here in California.

#personal