Wedding
This past weekend was my friends wedding. I was honored to be selected as one of his groomsmen. I don't really have a whole lot of friends so when one of them thinks enough of me to ask me to be in his wedding, it really means a lot to me.
The wedding was down in L.A. and I have to admit that I really hate L.A.. I was not looking forward to L.A. but I was looking forward to having a fun weekend with some friends. My wife and I took a flight from Oakland to LAX that left at 2PM. We managed to meet each other at the gate since we both left from work. I made sure to print out our boarding passes as soon as possible so that we could be one of the first to board. We flew Southwest which doesn't assign seats and lets you choose your own seat when you board. They call our group and ask us to line up next to the poles marking our numbers. We end up standing there for 15 minutes waiting to board. If they weren't ready to let us board, why did they call us to line up? Why not just let us sit down at the gate till they are ready to board us?
Once we boarded, I noticed in the very first row 2 open seats with a man in the aisle seat. We snagged them right away. The extra legroom was great but we didn't have a tray table. It wasn't that big a deal on such a short flight. Our plane took off and landed right on time without any complications. Everything went very smoothly. I wish I could say the same for some of our friends that took a different flight. When we landed, we headed over to baggage claim to collect my wife's bag. We then headed out to catch the shuttle to the car rental depot. While we were at the gate in Oakland, I used my iPhone to check in for the rental car. They emailed me instructions to by pass the counter and go directly over and choose my car. I had never done this before so I was a little tentative.
We were standing at the rental shuttle pick up point and I swear I saw every other rental company's shuttle go by. Finally the one we needed pulled up and we hopped on board. The pick up point was at the beginning of the LAX loop so we had to ride all the way around the airport stopping at each pick up point and collecting more travelers. Eventually we get to the rental car depot and I start looking for the mid-size car lot as the instructions stated. We found it and my wife noticed that they had a Toyota Prius. She had been wanting to get one of those cars for a while now and was excited at the possibility of an extended test drive. Since I was still a little tentative about hopping into a car and driving off with it, I asked a guy there for some assistance. He seemed to have no idea what I was talking about so I basically ignored him. I told my wife to load our stuff in the Prius. I ran over to the gentleman at the exit and double checked with him that I was doing the right thing. He confirmed and I ran back to the car and headed out on our way. I pulled up to the same gentleman that I spoke to and gave him the credit card that I used to purchase the rental and my drivers license. He ran the paperwork very quickly and handed me the information. At the time, I was in a rush because I had to get to the church for the wedding rehearsal and my phone was ringing off the hook. As I was on the phone, the gentleman handed me the paperwork and he also handed me a notice explaining the new California law to not use a phone while driving. I laughed and he smiled. We pulled out and I quickly pulled into a neighboring lot to switch let me wife drive. She needed to go to the hotel and I was required to get to the church as soon as possible. She sets the GPS to direct her to the hotel and off she goes. I wait for my friends to come pick me up and take me to the church.
So there I am in a not so nice part of L.A. alone with no car just hoping that someone comes by to pick me up. I'm standing there for about 10 minutes or so which wasn't that bad. Eventually my friends come to pick me up in their convertible. I hop in the back and they put the top down and we are on our way through L.A. traffic on a Friday at the beginning of rush hour. I feel like a total homo riding in the back of a convertible with 3 other guys. Luckily I wasn't the only one that felt that way so the top eventually came back up.
We arrive at the church and all the bridesmaids are there. A few of the groomsmen hadn't made it because of some problems with their flight which caused them to run a couple of hours late. They never made it to the rehearsal. The rehearsal went well up until the only other groomsmen took off for some reason and I was the only groomsmen left. It turns out they went to get something to eat. I hadn't eaten all day and it was about 6PM by this time. Thanks for thinking of me guys! We finished practicing walking into and out of the church and off we went to the rehearsal dinner at the bride's parents house. We passed by the hotel on our way and my friends dropped me off so I could ride with her. I think they wanted to get rid of me so they could go buy alcohol. No big deal. I called my wife and she said she wasn't at the room and was out exploring. I thought she meant she was out exploring the hotel but it turns out she was out exploring the town in the Prius rental. I walked in the hotel lobby to find a bunch of Egyptians. I hit the button for the elevator to go up to the room and the elevator doors open and who do see but more Egyptians. Talk about ETO. I get in the elevator assuming my wife is up at the room by now when I realize that you need a key to get the elevator to go up to your room. I call my wife and she explains to me that she is in the car exploring and has just pulled up to the hotel. I come outside and get into the car.
We enter the address for the rehearsal dinner into the GPS and set out on our way. We miss a couple of turns but the GPS recalculates the route. We would have been totally screwed without it. GPS's are like cell phones now. You wonder how you got by without them. We get to the dinner and I feel totally under dressed. I was told it was casual but everyone is dressed pretty nicely. I'm wearing my jeans, a polo and vans. What was even worse is that we were one of the first people to get there. I felt kinda stupid but, oh well. Then the bride's father asks me to open the wine and make sure that everyone gets something to drink. Wrong person to assign to this but I do the best I can.
The dinner was great and their home was beautiful with a huge yard and great view. The food was really good too. I made sure to get seconds since I didn't eat anything all day as did others. I got a chance to speak to some of the bridesmaids and I have to admit that the brides friends are some of the sweetest girls I have ever met. I was actually scoping some of them out for some of my single friends. I really thought one of them would be perfect for someone but he insists on an Egyptian girl so nothing doing there. It's too bad because she was really cute. Around 11PM we head back to the hotel room for the night.
To be continued.....
Okay so the day of the big event has arrived. I promised myself that I would sleep in but for some reason I woke up at 7:30. I didn't want to wake up my wife so I laid on the couch and watched a movie from my iPhone till she woke up. I took a shower and shaved and was thinking about what I was going to do for breakfast. After much deliberating and Egyptian drama, a rather large group of us decided to go to the IHOP that was down the street from the hotel that we were staying at. ETO was in full effect as we got one table and then proceeded to add on and take over 2 more tables. We ended up driving out an elderly couple from their table adjacent to us to one a little further down. They made it seem like they were doing us a favor by moving but I think they were just annoyed by us being so loud and obnoxious right next to them. I was very tempted to leave and go to the McDonald's across the street just to make things easier.
By the time we finished our breakfast/brunch it was about 11:30. We headed back to the hotel to get dressed. We were supposed to be ready for the photographer at 12:45. We made it on time but the limo that was supposed to pick us up was late. We then headed out to the beach to take pictures. It was cloudy and foggy so I don't think the pictures will turn out exactly as everyone had hoped. A little photoshop action will probably be in order.
Back in the limo and off to the church. The limo drops us off and we wait... and wait... and wait. We notice a free parking spot right in front of the church and stand in it to hold it. The spot next to it opens up and we stand in it as well waving off cars that try to park there. We were holding it for the limo with the bride and bride's maids to park in front. Once the other spot opened up, the limo that dropped us off pulled in so we wouldn't have to stand there looking like dorks.
You could tell that the groom was a little nervous but of course he wouldn't admit it. I was nervous for him. Eventually the bride shows up and the wedding starts. It was a very nice wedding and was pretty typical of Egyptian weddings. The only really eventful things that happened were the lady that caught her hair on fire from one of the candles as we entered and stunk up the entire church and the ring bearer taking a nap on the ring pillow.
As the wedding ended, the wedding party snuck into a little room and we had some McDonald's hamburgers waiting for us. We had wanted In 'N Out but it wasn't going to work out with the schedule. It was a nice little treat after the wedding. Once the church cleared we took some more pictures then back in the big limo to head to the reception.
We took some more pictures out onhe golf course. On the way back up the hill to the recption hall as we road in the golf carts, it was clear that the cart was a little overloaded and wasn't going to make it up the hill. I and a couple other guys had to jump out and push to keep the cart from rolling back and lighten the load a little. It reminded me of my wedding when a car broke down in front of the church and we volunteered to help push it off to the side of the road.
We are introduced and walk in to our chosen theme music. The bride and groom enter and do their dance which I am sure they practiced for hours. They did a very good job. I was impressed. Once the dance was over we headed to our seats. My wife and I were stuck at a really crappy table behind a pole with a bunch of older couples. I didn't think that we were at that stage in life yet to be categorized with all the older couples. I felt that we were more like the young singles but whatever.
As the speeches were going on, something really funny happened at our table. One of the guests was upset with the level of service and started to make a scene. I got up and left the table for 3 reasons. 1) I wanted to hear the speeches and the guy yelling was drowning out the speeches. 2) I was stuck behind a pole and couldn't see anything. 3) It was hard to keep a straight face when this guy was over-reacting because of the lack of service. Seeing me laughing probably would have made him even more angry. His wife tried to calm him down but he wouldn't. He told her to go back to her seat in the typical Egyptian male "I'm the boss" kind of way. He then asked her if she wanted to leave and she said yes and they both walked out. I thought it was pretty freaking funny. Eventually they came back to the table and we were served our dinners. The guy who got upset refused to eat and I wouldn't blame him. They probably spit in his food.
The food was typical wedding food. I wasn't expecting anything great since it was being served to 300 people. Massive meals like that aren't really going to be very tasty. After dinner the music came on and people started dancing. I don't dance and there is good reason why but for some reason I really got into it. I tried to encourage my single friend to get out there and mingle with all the single ladies but it didn't happen. At about 11:30 we headed back to the hotel which turned out to be only a few minutes away. By midnight I was in bed.
The next morning, my wife and I packed up our stuff and checked out. We stopped for a quick breakfast and returned the rental car. I had forgot to print our boarding passes the night before so I printed them that morning. We weren't in the first group but at least we weren't last on the plane. The rental car shuttle dropped us off at the terminal and there was a huge line to check in our bags. I was a little worried because I thought we might miss our flight but the line moved quickly as did the security line. We both checked our bags so we didn't have anything to carry on the plane making it pretty easy. After an uneventful flight home we waited at baggage claim for our bags which seemed to take forever. We grabbed our stuff and headed out to the AirBart shuttle. We got to the Bart station and the first train that comes to the platform is ours. We couldn't have timed it better. We get off at our stop and our friend picks us up and drives us home. I'm in my house in time to watch some football. Things couldn't have gone more smoothly.
I have to say that the most impressive part of the trip was the car rental. It was quick and easy and efficient. The car only cost me $15 per day. I always tried to avoid renting a car but this experience has made me lean toward doing it more often. Our next trip is to Miami in November and a cruise to the Bahamas. I don't know if we will need a rental car because there is a shuttle to the hotel and our hotel is right in the middle of all the action. We will probably just need to take a taxi to the port for the cruise and then from the cruise back to the airport. I'll figure that all out when I get there.
The wedding was down in L.A. and I have to admit that I really hate L.A.. I was not looking forward to L.A. but I was looking forward to having a fun weekend with some friends. My wife and I took a flight from Oakland to LAX that left at 2PM. We managed to meet each other at the gate since we both left from work. I made sure to print out our boarding passes as soon as possible so that we could be one of the first to board. We flew Southwest which doesn't assign seats and lets you choose your own seat when you board. They call our group and ask us to line up next to the poles marking our numbers. We end up standing there for 15 minutes waiting to board. If they weren't ready to let us board, why did they call us to line up? Why not just let us sit down at the gate till they are ready to board us?
Once we boarded, I noticed in the very first row 2 open seats with a man in the aisle seat. We snagged them right away. The extra legroom was great but we didn't have a tray table. It wasn't that big a deal on such a short flight. Our plane took off and landed right on time without any complications. Everything went very smoothly. I wish I could say the same for some of our friends that took a different flight. When we landed, we headed over to baggage claim to collect my wife's bag. We then headed out to catch the shuttle to the car rental depot. While we were at the gate in Oakland, I used my iPhone to check in for the rental car. They emailed me instructions to by pass the counter and go directly over and choose my car. I had never done this before so I was a little tentative.
We were standing at the rental shuttle pick up point and I swear I saw every other rental company's shuttle go by. Finally the one we needed pulled up and we hopped on board. The pick up point was at the beginning of the LAX loop so we had to ride all the way around the airport stopping at each pick up point and collecting more travelers. Eventually we get to the rental car depot and I start looking for the mid-size car lot as the instructions stated. We found it and my wife noticed that they had a Toyota Prius. She had been wanting to get one of those cars for a while now and was excited at the possibility of an extended test drive. Since I was still a little tentative about hopping into a car and driving off with it, I asked a guy there for some assistance. He seemed to have no idea what I was talking about so I basically ignored him. I told my wife to load our stuff in the Prius. I ran over to the gentleman at the exit and double checked with him that I was doing the right thing. He confirmed and I ran back to the car and headed out on our way. I pulled up to the same gentleman that I spoke to and gave him the credit card that I used to purchase the rental and my drivers license. He ran the paperwork very quickly and handed me the information. At the time, I was in a rush because I had to get to the church for the wedding rehearsal and my phone was ringing off the hook. As I was on the phone, the gentleman handed me the paperwork and he also handed me a notice explaining the new California law to not use a phone while driving. I laughed and he smiled. We pulled out and I quickly pulled into a neighboring lot to switch let me wife drive. She needed to go to the hotel and I was required to get to the church as soon as possible. She sets the GPS to direct her to the hotel and off she goes. I wait for my friends to come pick me up and take me to the church.
So there I am in a not so nice part of L.A. alone with no car just hoping that someone comes by to pick me up. I'm standing there for about 10 minutes or so which wasn't that bad. Eventually my friends come to pick me up in their convertible. I hop in the back and they put the top down and we are on our way through L.A. traffic on a Friday at the beginning of rush hour. I feel like a total homo riding in the back of a convertible with 3 other guys. Luckily I wasn't the only one that felt that way so the top eventually came back up.
We arrive at the church and all the bridesmaids are there. A few of the groomsmen hadn't made it because of some problems with their flight which caused them to run a couple of hours late. They never made it to the rehearsal. The rehearsal went well up until the only other groomsmen took off for some reason and I was the only groomsmen left. It turns out they went to get something to eat. I hadn't eaten all day and it was about 6PM by this time. Thanks for thinking of me guys! We finished practicing walking into and out of the church and off we went to the rehearsal dinner at the bride's parents house. We passed by the hotel on our way and my friends dropped me off so I could ride with her. I think they wanted to get rid of me so they could go buy alcohol. No big deal. I called my wife and she said she wasn't at the room and was out exploring. I thought she meant she was out exploring the hotel but it turns out she was out exploring the town in the Prius rental. I walked in the hotel lobby to find a bunch of Egyptians. I hit the button for the elevator to go up to the room and the elevator doors open and who do see but more Egyptians. Talk about ETO. I get in the elevator assuming my wife is up at the room by now when I realize that you need a key to get the elevator to go up to your room. I call my wife and she explains to me that she is in the car exploring and has just pulled up to the hotel. I come outside and get into the car.
We enter the address for the rehearsal dinner into the GPS and set out on our way. We miss a couple of turns but the GPS recalculates the route. We would have been totally screwed without it. GPS's are like cell phones now. You wonder how you got by without them. We get to the dinner and I feel totally under dressed. I was told it was casual but everyone is dressed pretty nicely. I'm wearing my jeans, a polo and vans. What was even worse is that we were one of the first people to get there. I felt kinda stupid but, oh well. Then the bride's father asks me to open the wine and make sure that everyone gets something to drink. Wrong person to assign to this but I do the best I can.
The dinner was great and their home was beautiful with a huge yard and great view. The food was really good too. I made sure to get seconds since I didn't eat anything all day as did others. I got a chance to speak to some of the bridesmaids and I have to admit that the brides friends are some of the sweetest girls I have ever met. I was actually scoping some of them out for some of my single friends. I really thought one of them would be perfect for someone but he insists on an Egyptian girl so nothing doing there. It's too bad because she was really cute. Around 11PM we head back to the hotel room for the night.
To be continued.....
Okay so the day of the big event has arrived. I promised myself that I would sleep in but for some reason I woke up at 7:30. I didn't want to wake up my wife so I laid on the couch and watched a movie from my iPhone till she woke up. I took a shower and shaved and was thinking about what I was going to do for breakfast. After much deliberating and Egyptian drama, a rather large group of us decided to go to the IHOP that was down the street from the hotel that we were staying at. ETO was in full effect as we got one table and then proceeded to add on and take over 2 more tables. We ended up driving out an elderly couple from their table adjacent to us to one a little further down. They made it seem like they were doing us a favor by moving but I think they were just annoyed by us being so loud and obnoxious right next to them. I was very tempted to leave and go to the McDonald's across the street just to make things easier.
By the time we finished our breakfast/brunch it was about 11:30. We headed back to the hotel to get dressed. We were supposed to be ready for the photographer at 12:45. We made it on time but the limo that was supposed to pick us up was late. We then headed out to the beach to take pictures. It was cloudy and foggy so I don't think the pictures will turn out exactly as everyone had hoped. A little photoshop action will probably be in order.
Back in the limo and off to the church. The limo drops us off and we wait... and wait... and wait. We notice a free parking spot right in front of the church and stand in it to hold it. The spot next to it opens up and we stand in it as well waving off cars that try to park there. We were holding it for the limo with the bride and bride's maids to park in front. Once the other spot opened up, the limo that dropped us off pulled in so we wouldn't have to stand there looking like dorks.
You could tell that the groom was a little nervous but of course he wouldn't admit it. I was nervous for him. Eventually the bride shows up and the wedding starts. It was a very nice wedding and was pretty typical of Egyptian weddings. The only really eventful things that happened were the lady that caught her hair on fire from one of the candles as we entered and stunk up the entire church and the ring bearer taking a nap on the ring pillow.
As the wedding ended, the wedding party snuck into a little room and we had some McDonald's hamburgers waiting for us. We had wanted In 'N Out but it wasn't going to work out with the schedule. It was a nice little treat after the wedding. Once the church cleared we took some more pictures then back in the big limo to head to the reception.
We took some more pictures out onhe golf course. On the way back up the hill to the recption hall as we road in the golf carts, it was clear that the cart was a little overloaded and wasn't going to make it up the hill. I and a couple other guys had to jump out and push to keep the cart from rolling back and lighten the load a little. It reminded me of my wedding when a car broke down in front of the church and we volunteered to help push it off to the side of the road.
We are introduced and walk in to our chosen theme music. The bride and groom enter and do their dance which I am sure they practiced for hours. They did a very good job. I was impressed. Once the dance was over we headed to our seats. My wife and I were stuck at a really crappy table behind a pole with a bunch of older couples. I didn't think that we were at that stage in life yet to be categorized with all the older couples. I felt that we were more like the young singles but whatever.
As the speeches were going on, something really funny happened at our table. One of the guests was upset with the level of service and started to make a scene. I got up and left the table for 3 reasons. 1) I wanted to hear the speeches and the guy yelling was drowning out the speeches. 2) I was stuck behind a pole and couldn't see anything. 3) It was hard to keep a straight face when this guy was over-reacting because of the lack of service. Seeing me laughing probably would have made him even more angry. His wife tried to calm him down but he wouldn't. He told her to go back to her seat in the typical Egyptian male "I'm the boss" kind of way. He then asked her if she wanted to leave and she said yes and they both walked out. I thought it was pretty freaking funny. Eventually they came back to the table and we were served our dinners. The guy who got upset refused to eat and I wouldn't blame him. They probably spit in his food.
The food was typical wedding food. I wasn't expecting anything great since it was being served to 300 people. Massive meals like that aren't really going to be very tasty. After dinner the music came on and people started dancing. I don't dance and there is good reason why but for some reason I really got into it. I tried to encourage my single friend to get out there and mingle with all the single ladies but it didn't happen. At about 11:30 we headed back to the hotel which turned out to be only a few minutes away. By midnight I was in bed.
The next morning, my wife and I packed up our stuff and checked out. We stopped for a quick breakfast and returned the rental car. I had forgot to print our boarding passes the night before so I printed them that morning. We weren't in the first group but at least we weren't last on the plane. The rental car shuttle dropped us off at the terminal and there was a huge line to check in our bags. I was a little worried because I thought we might miss our flight but the line moved quickly as did the security line. We both checked our bags so we didn't have anything to carry on the plane making it pretty easy. After an uneventful flight home we waited at baggage claim for our bags which seemed to take forever. We grabbed our stuff and headed out to the AirBart shuttle. We got to the Bart station and the first train that comes to the platform is ours. We couldn't have timed it better. We get off at our stop and our friend picks us up and drives us home. I'm in my house in time to watch some football. Things couldn't have gone more smoothly.
I have to say that the most impressive part of the trip was the car rental. It was quick and easy and efficient. The car only cost me $15 per day. I always tried to avoid renting a car but this experience has made me lean toward doing it more often. Our next trip is to Miami in November and a cruise to the Bahamas. I don't know if we will need a rental car because there is a shuttle to the hotel and our hotel is right in the middle of all the action. We will probably just need to take a taxi to the port for the cruise and then from the cruise back to the airport. I'll figure that all out when I get there.
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