The Chamborres Expedition

Weddings are always fun, and a wedding abroad brings a little extra excitement. As you might remember (or may not if you are a newer follower) a few months ago we stayed with our friends Daniel & Libby in Thailand. Mike met Daniel in 2005 while studying in Chile, and one night in Chiang Mai the two of them got to reminiscing about their adventures in South America. They got to talking about their other friend Mark, who was still living down there, so Mike decided to send him a message to see about meeting up sometime in November.

Mike and Mark back in 2005

Mark wrote back, and not only did he want to meet up, but he was getting married to his Chilean girlfriend, Carolina, on November 24th, and they invited us to attend the wedding. Our first thought was, AWESOME, weddings are such a blast! Our second thought was, oh shit, what are we going to wear? There wasn’t exactly room for formal wear in our small backpacks. We soon realized that the clothing issue could be easily resolved, we would just buy some new threads and either leave them behind or send them home. We added the wedding to our travel plans, bought plane tickets to Chile a few days later, and continued on our trip through SE Asia without further thought.

Two weeks ago was the big day for Mark and Carolina. With some help from friends, family, and the thrift store, we were able to make ourselves presentable for this special day.

Us getting dressed up for the wedding – it felt odd to wear dress clothes again!

There ceremony was held at the Naval Chapel in Viña del Mar. The weather was perfect and the views of the ocean and Valparaíso in the distance made it the prime surroundings for two people to get hitched. The ceremony was a small, traditional Catholic service, that couldn’t have been more beautiful. It was conducted in Spanish, which created some funny scenes of Mark’s guests from the States looking around for tips of when to stand, when to sit and when to exit after the ceremony.

Carolina’s beautiful dress

Mark and Carolina making their way out of the chapel through blue and white rose petals flying through the air.

If there is one thing better than a wedding, however, it’s a wedding reception! Mark and Carolina took off in a Hummer to do their photos and such, and the rest of us hopped in vans and headed to Concón. At first, the vibe of the reception was a little quite; when you have a multi-cultural wedding with two different languages involved, people tend to segregate themselves a bit, but after some quality speeches (which were translated), some tasty food, and the opening of the bar, people were mingling freely and the party was in full swing.

In many cultures, it is common for the bride and groom to have their first dance; accordingly, Mark and Carolina took the dance floor and stepped to a slow love song. Then something somewhat unexpected happened. Someone brought out a cowboy hat, two handkerchiefs and a sash. Having spent time in Chile, Mike knew exactly what was about to go down when he saw those items. Amy looked at him for some explanation. The answer: Cueca Time! Cueca is Chile’s traditional folk dance, where the couple dances around each other in a fun and flirtatious way.

Cueca time!

In contrast to the old tradition of dancing cueca at Chilean wedding receptions, a new custom has emerged as well over the last decade. Late into the festivities, after rounds and rounds of drinks have been consumed, cheesy party costumes and favors are handed out, similar to what you would expect at a New Year’s Eve Party (i.e. masks, noise makers, oversized sunglasses, etc).

Crazy costume time

Everything about Mark and Caorlina’s wedding was perfect. It was one of those weddings where you could feel the love beaming between them and from all of their family and friends. The Chilean-American family that was formed that night made us think about tough decisions that sometimes have to be made in the face of love. We often talk about where we want to live after our trip around the world, and it is a difficult topic to discuss as our family is spread between multiple states. For Mark and Carolina, however, their family is divided between different continents; leaving them with an even more challenging decision. For us, celebrating with them that night wasn’t just a good time; it reminded us that family will always be family, near or far, and family stays in your heart wherever you are in the world.