Going to the Chapel...

Most of my personal goals have been achieved already. I've travelled a lot, I've met Ukrainian friends, become a better teacher, but one thing has remained absent from that personal to do list.

First and foremost was to attend a Ukrainian wedding. Well, soon enough I am actually to be in one.

The bride is my linkmate who met and fell in love with a local Ukrainian in her city. For some months now, myself, and my clustermate, both bridesmaids, have been helping with wedding plans.

This wedding will be a unique one indeed, since it will mix Ukrainian and American wedding traditions. The ceremonies (yes, plural) will be in both English and Ukrainian. There will be performances, readings, photographs, and so on--done by invited PCVs. No small feat considering that we are all spread over this country--the largest entirely inside Europe.

My clustermate and I have been trying to fulfill our duties--helping to plan, going dress shopping (which, within itself is worth talking about), looking at places to hold the wedding and the reception, and overall moral support during this busy time.

She and I (along with the bride) picked out fabric beforehand (the bride wanted to keep the American tradition of bridesmaids wearing the same dress) and went and had our measurements taken. Today will be the fitting.

The wedding is still off by several weeks, and we have our Close of Service (COS) conference in between. It's a busy, busy time indeed...