Its 10 pm. We (me, aunt padma, cousin ahila) are to leave for Lincoln,Nebraska at 6 am tomorrow. Didn't do any packing yet, started ironing my clothes, then decided 'Oh! Screw it! I will do it later'. Dumped all the clothes into my carry-on, packed Atlas Shrugged and Malgudi Days to keep me company on the plane.
Dec 29, Thur
Got up to the sound of the Alarm at 3:30 am, contemplated for a while whether to shower or sneak in little more sleep, then realized that I skipped shower yesterday, so can't skip it today. Then the events followed in this order, Drove to airport, took the connecting flight to Chicago, hoped on the flight to Lincoln. We reached Lincoln at 10 am , my cousin Meera and her husband Alan picked us. Lincoln has a tiny airport for a state capital, It has only 4 gates versus 60 (approx) in Cleveland airport.
We drove to the hotel through the downtown. It was small with no tall buildings. Since the land is cheap around here, the city tends to develope wide that tall. I was surprised to learn that its has 3 Indian Diners. Man! We haven't left a single city in US untouched. No matter which city to go to in US, you are only minutes away from an Indian restaurant. The weather for around 40s Deg Fahrenheit, very nice for Nebraska's standards.
In the evening We met the bride Jane ,Groom Wes and their family(Scarrows and Hansmeyers respectively) for the first time at the dinner. They were all very nice, asking me about my job, my family in India etc., I was replying with one liners. Only then I realized how woefully bad my social etiquette skills are. Got to work on it!!.
Dec 30, Fri
The Day of the wedding. We spent the day shopping in the Westfield Mall. No matter where you go, the Malls look the same with the same stores and its always full. Its amazing to see how much Americans shop. They usually buy things if they are on sale no matter if they need it.
In the evening I put on my suit, the one I bought for interviews but used only for marriages. We drove to the church. This was my first church wedding. It was short and sweet with the bride walking down the isle, sermon by the priest, a song, wedding vows and that's it. I especially like the part where they exchange vows, its so nice to see the bride and groom facing each other and take the vow of support and loyalty for each other. Why don't we do something similar in Hindu weddings.
Then off to a country club for buffet dinner, beers and dancing. My dance is nothing but skip, jump, shake hip and flail arms. Oh! Well!! Its time to add dancing to my 'wish I Learnt it properly' List.
Dec 31, Sat
New Years eve!!. During the day we went out to eat with uncles, aunts and cousins and did some shopping(what else is new!). We had a party at the newly wed's new house in the evening. The party was full to food, fun and booze. The Nebraska gang was singing and making merry. We had champagne at the stoke of 12 and exchanged new years wishes. I had a swell time.
Jan 1, Sun
:-( Time to get back to Cleveland. We had an evening flight to catch. But the fun is not yet over.
We went to see Wes's (the groom) Dad's (Mr.Hansmeyer) farm 30 min from Lincoln. He has a 2000 acre farm which he manages with his son, Chris. He has a house built in the middle of the farm. They have to drive 10 miles to get to the nearby town. The folks who live there have so much space for themselves. Its like a different world altogether from Princeton or Cleveland or Chennai for that matter. It was a great experience to meet those folks and get a glimpse of their life style. Mr. Hansmeyer took us around and showed his farm and his gigantic form equipments(especially the combine with tires taller than me).
Around 5 pm we left the farm and drove to the airport. It was the end of a memorable trip. Memorable!, not just because of the new things I saw and experienced but because I did with my family and friends.
