Of Wars and Weddings

I have the most frustrating time with men here! Some days it just makes me SO angry. The other day I popped into the grocery store on the way home and was followed in by two men who had the nerve to try to proposition me. Unfortunately, I have had similar experiences in the past so I knew what they were up to before we ever got into the store and was able to put an end to it before they got too far. If we hadn't been in the grocery store I think I would have hit him! (which wouldn't be a first) Those kind of things make me so extremely angry and the more so because there is very little that I can do to prevent them. Other than never go anywhere without a man by my side and since that is not at all practical...
But, you can pray for me and pray for God's protection on me. This is already the second incident in the month that I've been back in Ukraine and it is very frustrating to me, to say nothing of what it does to my peace of mind.

But on to bigger and better things: an American friend of mine here got married yesterday. Weddings here are very different than in America! (and the better for it in my opinion) First off, many people don't have a church ceremony at all, but just have the legal ceremony which is performed at ZAKs (I have no idea what that abbreviation stands for and really don't care). If you do want a church ceremony that is performed either before or after your legal ceremony. The legal ceremonies are typically very ceremonious, really a secular version of a church ceremony.
It is common in many of the churches here to have the wedding ceremony in conjunction with the Sunday morning service. The bride and groom come down the aisle at the beginning of the service with their attendants and are seated at the front of the auditorium for the first half of the service with the second half being their wedding. Keep in mind that services here are typically two hours long. This gives the entire congregation ample time to watch the happy, and usually nervous, couple. It also ensures that the whole church partakes in the ceremony and knows who is married to whom. It is really much more family of Christ oriented than our exclusive Western ceremonies.
After church and the wedding, which yesterday ended at 1pm, the bridal party and their invited friends rush off to the legal ceremony and then the reception. The reception is remarkable. For example, yesterday's reception was quite typical in most aspects except that since it was a Christian wedding it didn't include alcohol. We walked into the restaurant to find the tables already laden with food and drinks. For every six to eight people there were a couple different kinds of juice as well as mineral water and some pop. There was bread, a bowl of cookies/sweets, a chicken salad, crab salad, stuffed fish (comes whole including the head and tail and is really a sight to see), fried fish, holodyets (a very Ukrainian dish of meat in unflavored gelatin), tomato salad, fried cauliflower, a fruit platter, black olives, green olives, marinated mushrooms, and at least two or three other dishes which I can't remember at the moment! This was just the start. After we had indulged ourselves on these things they brought out mashed potatoes with mushroom stuffed meat and about 45 minutes later fish and chicken shish-kabobs. The reception started at 3pm and was still going at full force around 7:30pm when I took my leave. There was a variety of entertainment ranging from live music to skits to games, we were even given a 30 minute break at one point! The food kept coming with a new dish appearing every 30-45mins. When they began serving the cake (after we had already been eating all afternoon) I was given a piece that was at least two or three times what I was expecting. I decided to just enjoy it, but had to laugh when I discovered that was only the first of three cakes that were being served! I quit after the second cake and decided to make good my escape before I burst at the seams!
All in all it was a beautiful wedding and a good start for Vova and Laura's marriage. It was wonderful to see how relaxed they were when things didn't go perfectly, they just went with the flow. I have a feeling that they will continue to have that accepting and easy attitude in the future as well.
I wish I had pictures for you, but unfortunately I left my camera at home-twice! :(
Oh well, hopefully you will be able to picture it well, the bride truly looked like a princess (I don't think I've ever seen a more princess-like bride before) and both weddings and the reception were quite enjoyable to be at!