I woke up really early because I did not practice at all since I got here in Canada. I had breakfast and tried to stay away from milk and all the things that could hurt my voice. In fact, I already got diagnosed of vocal nodules before leaving, so I did not want to hurt my voice more than singing for the wedding.
During breakfast I talked to Mr Wand, one of the guests. When he heard that I was going to volunteer in Burk’s Falls he was so happy that he tried to tell me about how he volunteered in China back in the days. He was not that fluent in English but I could understand him and we talked quite a lot. He is a university student counselor at Nanjing Medical Department, a university in Nanjing city. He invited me to volunteer in his city and told me that he would welcome me anytime. It made me really want to visit them as soon as I could because I honestly found that they were nice people. We exchanged our email address and I think that Nanjing just became another stop for my next adventures.
I soon started practicing in the bathroom all the songs I had to play for the cocktail hour. I did my breathing exercises and a warm-up, but it still got pretty hard to sing after a while because of my vocal nodules.
As soon as I finished practicing I received a message from one of Sabrina’s friend. She told me she was picking me up around 2.30pm so my plan to have some food got ruined. I prepared in a hurry and waited her on the side road of the house.
We spent the ride listening to Ed Sheeran’s new album. I have do admit that he is pretty great. He basically just sings about love which is something that I hate because it tends to get so stereotypical and boring, but he just gives different vibes and can capture all of the emotions in the spectrum of love.
I arrived there pretty early, around 3pm, way before the soundcheck. But there was no deejay today, so one person just showed me everything I needed and left me there. I set up my stuff and did a soundcheck by myself, but then I was so hungry that I just left everything there and went for a snack outside. I was lucky because there was a small mall super close, so I bought some ketchup flavored Lays and two bars of Twix. I ate paying attention not to dirty my dress.
On my way back to the wedding hall I met Sahil. He is a super nice guy and offered me some McDonald. I was really thinking of accepting when I just thought that the two weds would have so much to think about that I did not want to bother them eve more. In the end I refused and I regretted it a little bit.
I spent the time before the cocktail hours just playing some random music and learning all the songs I could from Sabrina’s list in case I had to sing more than one hour. I ended up learning just “Truly, madly, deeply” which I did not even sing.
Before the cocktail hour I met some of Sabrina’s relatives. For example I talked to her father who was as a good person as one can be. I still laugh thinking about the fact that the first thing he asked me was how many children I have. That is one thing that Indian people have in common with Filipino people. Even her grandma asked me that while telling me that she could hook me with any Indian girl she knew. She insisted on being called “Grandma Sheela” and told me that I was already part of the family.
Finally I played the guitar and sang during the cocktail hour. Many people enjoyed it and congratulated me. In particular, two Sabrina’s female cousins from England sang along with me lots of songs. It made me happy because I do not like it when there is no interaction with the audience. One child and an old man gave me tips though, which surprised me at first. Later on, one waitress told me that is pretty common for that to happen in Canada. I am glad everything went well because I thought I did not have enough practice. But the cocktail hour came and go in an instant as my 22 songs did.
I sat at the table I was assigned at. I was supposed to sit with Sabrina’s friends, but even then I did not know anyone so I felt kind of awkward. That is the reason why I just went and grab the appetizer. At that moment I did not know it was the appetizer, so I filled my dish twice and felt really full. I got to talk to Sabrina’s friend at a certain point and it was strange because they were all super Indian that day (even in the way they dressed) but they had an American/Canadian vibe to them.
The party started with the different entrances of Sabrina and Sahil’s grandparents, parents, bride mates, groom mates, and finally them two. Two different MCs presented the night, one for each “side” which as it has been said it was really only a new one big side. They had speeches and performances and it is true that I enjoyed both so much, but I preferred the speeches because they made me feel emotional. They were really honest and touching. It was nice to see two different families bond so much and so well, I hope that something like that can happen to me too. Damn, I want to get married too!
Sabrina’s mother made a great speech about entrusting her daughter to Sahil and everyone laughed so much when Sabrina’s friends roasted her by showing all of her “hidden” sides with pictures and stories. Even Sahil’s got roasted by his big brother, who showed some stupid selfies of the newlyweds and a portion of Sahil’s One Piece collection. Yeah, that One Piece! I was so thrilled to meet another Mugiwara!
After that we hit the dance floor. It was just Indian music for a couple hours, so I did not feel like joining. Moreover, I did not know anyone, so I was kind of unsure if to join or not. One of Sabrina’s old aunts noticed it and invited me to dance. It was kind of awkward at the beginning because I could really not move on the Indian music while everyone was having so much fun. Fortunately, I ended up dancing with her cousins from the UK and got a little bit more relaxed. I danced and did a big part of my dance repertoire. They liked it so much it gave me fuel to keep dancing.
I took a break to have dinner and I absolutely loved the naan bread. It is like a mix between piadina and bread, so as an Italian I could just keep eating that. And finally, since I did not have to sing anymore I could enjoy the spicy food.
While I was resting at my seat, Sahil asked me to go with him and we went to the newlyweds room. There, Sabrina and him gave me an envelope to thank me for coming all the way from Italy to play at their wedding. I did not want money and never asked for that, but I guess they really wanted to show me how much they appreciated. And since they do not know me that well (and so do I), they just gave me money. It is funny because I just met Sabrina last year at another workaway place I stayed at and with the power of only one open mic night, my singing was so well liked that she decided to have me singing at her wedding out of the blue. I love this kind of things that happen randomly. They give you the chance to expand your own adventures and connections.
When I got back to the dance floor I noticed they were preparing the desserts, the fruit and the cake. I saw some cannoli and wanted to have them, but it was not the time yet because the staff members were still preparing. So I hit the dance floor once more and they played some western music, so I really could break out all of my dance moves. I forgot to do the floss, but pretty much did everything else. It was funny (man, how many times did I say that?) to notice that in Italy no one knows the lyrics of the songs when they dance, while here everyone knew every line. I felt kind of down because I could not follow up with the singing. At one point some drummers stepped on the stage and played the Indian drums together with the music. It was freaking amazing and I realized that if there are live drums, you feel more like dancing. I thought that I could have African tribal drums played at my wedding party. The only thing that I am a little sad about is that I missed the cannoli because I danced too much.
Around 1am I just wanted to go back home because I had a bus early in the morning the day after. So I looked out for Sabrina and Sahil, but I just kept meeting Nikki and her friend that made me have so many shots when I do not even drink. Actually, I never drank that much to get drunk but I feel like I could handle alcohol pretty well.
When I finally found Sabrina and Sahil I greeted them and wished them the best. Sabrina was so drunk that she just kept talking to me and thanking me for everything I did. All of the people we met on the way to the newlyweds’ room thanked me and told me that I should visit them as I was already part of the family. Grandma Sheela even made me promise I would call them whenever I will be in Toronto.
Finally we got to Sabrina’s room where my guitar was. I grabbed it and waved goodbye to everyone. Nikki and some of her friends helped me out with the taxi and so I spent $. 60,00 Canadian dollars to get back to Richmond Hill. Nikki’s friend told me not to tip the taxi driver because the trip was already expensive, but life is about giving and that night I felt like giving so I tipped him five Canadian dollars, which is a pretty high tip.
I vlogged everything and had a nice night cold shower before packing everything. I went to bed with only four hours to sleep until the alarm. Fortunately I will be able to sleep on the bus since it will be a four hours and a half ride.
Godyl Go! 