The Wedding Chronicles : 10 days to go
Chapter 1/4: how to spend ten days with your family in South Africa.
Keep them busy.
Meet the family
I'm finally finding some time to write the reports that all your friends who couldn't make it want to read.
Yes, I got finally married and yes, me and Lindsey came back from the honey moon still together, and we are now started this new exciting (and somehow scaring) chapter of our lives, this time together.
I spent 3 beautiful and really unforgettable weeks. With my family and guests first, then with Lindsey in the Mauritius. Believe me when I say that is quite difficult to remember all the things that happened, and to even try to write something about them, unfortunately this is the usual case of "I wish you were all here to see".
But I know, and I understand. South Africa is a far away place, far far (far) away from the usual Meister's world (Europe and USA), and far for all the friends that Lindsey and I met in our years in London (Australia!).
I remember when I was younger and wanted to get married in Las Vegas dressed as a cowboy, approaching my hot future wife dressed as a Hooter Girl, but only now I realize how stupid (or full of raging hormones) I was. Never in that picture were my friends and family around me. It was always me, the hooter girl and Elvis blessing our vows for 50 dollars, and a buffet with plenty of spicy chicken wings and Lynchburg lemonades.
Only now I realize how important it to have people that saw you become what you are today, that witnessed the most embarrassing moments of your life (and are not shy of sharing it with everyone else), and shared the best, probably on a football field (ask Beppe, or Max, or Ian) or in bar.
You don't want to get married alone.
Yes, a marriage is a door to a completely different future, with so many variables that can make it or break it, but your past is what has built the path that now leads to that door. Thousand of regrets, but millions of nice memories.
So, let's set the clock back some days and go back to the 18th of March, the date of arrival of my first guests: my dad, my sister Olga, my older cousin Renato and Olga's friend, Sara.
My family has never properly being introduced to Lindsey's family (the last time Lindsey met my family was quickly in the autumn of 2004! ) but I was sure that they would click without any problems. And this was the case.
The team arrived on time with the help of Lindsey's father (you can't even imagine how helpful was Lindsey's family over those weeks!) I could split them easily in our cars to drive them back home.
Arriving home was a great moment. None of them has seen the house that I bought with Lindsey, and even if the darkness was already hiding the best feature (i.e.: the swimming pool), they were more than happy to finally enjoy some rest in our Palazzo.
Renato opted to sleep on the sofa (a small model that only 2 days later got replaced by our massive l shaped sofa, making my cousin even happier), while Sara and Olga decided to sleep in the main room. With Lindsey still living at her parents' house, my option was to share the other bedroom (the one with an annoying clicking generator for the electric fence) with my dad. I'm almost died for suffocation, but at least I woke up alive and ready to face the week with the family.
The next day I borrowed another bed from one of Jennifer (Lindsey's mother) friends, which was probably my salvation.
Everyone soon settled in, Olga and Sara spent most of the time at the pool tanning for the wedding, while Renato was taking pictures of pretty much everything that moves or that doesn't. My dad decided to fix the house and that was his main activity for the days preceding the wedding.
Unimpressed by my first shy attempts at fixing the house
, and horrified but what the previous owners have done (and the lack of tools by my side), he started his quest of sanding, fixing, varnishing, buying tools in the shop and painting inside the house, with the help of David when he was around (not too sure which language they used, but they managed to understand each other - or at least I hope!).
He managed to cut his head few times against the small entrance of the windy house, but, as a true soldier, he just ignored the missing skin and blood that left his body, just to focus his energy on finishing his work.
My mum decided to arrive only later, with her companion, and to avoid embarrassing situations; I decided to organize the whole trip so she could meet my dad only at the wedding. Divorce, what a pain in the bum.
The next day me and Lindsey drove to the airport to get my mum and Germano (that's his name) to drive them straight to the bus station, where they were supposed to get a coach to Cape Town around two o clock. Usual South African disaster and what was supposed to be a short connection became quickly a nightmare, with the bus getting delayed and then cancelled, just to magically appear only 6 hours later at the station, for the relief of too many angry tourists.
In the meanwhile, the giant sofa and the sexy two doors American fridge finally arrived in our house. Two of the things we most wanted. Besides each other, obviously (and a decent internet connection).
My sister and Sara left 2 days later to go to Cape Town , to stay at Kirsten and Andy's (Kirsten is Lindsey's younger sister and Andy her fiancée) and visit the west coast.
I don't know much of the trip to Cape Town, but you can see the pictures that my sister took. In such a short amount of time she managed to see probably more than I did my first (and only, so far) time there, in January 2005 : the penguins, Robben Island , Table Mountain and the nightlife.
Luckily it was the Easter weekend so I didn't have the "distraction" of work from London and I could spend as much time as possible with them. We enjoyed a relax weekend, waiting for my sister to come back from Cape Town, and we had a classic South African braai at Jill's house.
With my sister back it was time to celebrate Easter at the Thomson's house, and then get ready for the final preparation for the wedding.
But first of all, I had to make one of my dad's life wished true.
Meet the warrior
You see, my dad likes to read. A lot. One of his favorite authors has always been Wilbur Smith , known for all the sagas and stories about the Afrikaners, the English Colonialists and the wars with the Zulu and other tribes (i.e. Xhosa) . He traveled around the world back in the 60's, 70's and 80's, always for work, never for pleasure, and he always regretted not being able to visit South Africa.
Granted, his idea of South Africa was similar to the one in the books he read.
So he was probably a bit disappointed in seeing an Americanized version of the country he wanted to visit: giant malls, huge roads, electricity and coca cola widely available in any store (well, more coke than electricity, thanks to Eskom).
I knew what I needed to do and only few days earlier I booked a visit to the Lesedi Cultural Village , one of those tourist attractions where you can see how people lived from the different black tribes that were originally here.
After a long drive we arrived there with the whole team: Olgiatis + Thomsons. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that good and what started as a sunny day soon turned in a might storm that almost spoiled our visit.
At the village they had to quickly reorganize all the shows in the giant tent but it was worth it. We visited the kraals and saw the different kind of constructions they lived in, and after a slow start, with the necessary explanation of the differences between tribes (mostly how they dress and if they click when they talk, or not...), it was time for the energetic (and somehow painful) tribal dances.
Definitely my personal highlight was the Challenge. The main Zulu guy challenged any adult male around to fight against his biggest warrior in the inner circle, by the traditional Zulu rules. After 5 minutes of silence in the medium sized crowd sitting around (around 60-70 people), I decided to answer to the challenge and I stepped in to fight with their warrior.
They gave me a small shield and some sort of hammer, just lighter and made of wood. The rules are similar to fencing, with the addition of the shield. You are supposed to hit the opponent, step back, block the attack and so on, following some sort of rhythm. It was quite short but intense, and thanks to a probably illegal move (instead of following the normal path I hit the guy somewhere else while he was expecting a regular blow) the fight was over soon. Sure, no blood was spilled (this is how they decided the winner) but I'm sure I made the Italians in the world very proud.
After the tribal show we ate at the restaurant inside the village, for a fantastic buffet offering the best of true south African food, from pap (some sort of polenta) to crocodile meat (tastes like chicken), from fish to delicious malva pudding.
Back home I probably enjoyed my last night of peaceful sleeping before the events of the upcoming week.
To have some last time for myself, and work to the last minute with the London office, I decided to send all my guests to the Heia Safari , a small village where they could relax by the zebras and giraffes roaming freely around the area before the usual stressful day that is the wedding itself.
I wasn't there with them and I can relay only on the pictures taken, but they all told me they had an amazing time, the food was great and the amount of animals approachable made the experience unforgettable. Take a look at the beautiful photos taken by Olga or Renato.
While everyone (including my mum, having a blast in Cape Town and surroundings) was probably having the time of their lives, me and Lindsey were running around organizing the final transportations and dress fittings for my best men and her bridesmaids, and checking that everything at Glenburn Lodge was ok.
I booked all my guests in Glenburn for the night before and the night after, so they could relax before and later (very important if you have traveled all this way from Europe and the USA!). I had two more trips scheduled to the airport to collect Max and Beppe (arriving from Italy) and Dominik (from Poland, without his baggage lost and found only 2 days later) and, a day later the final group: Paolo, Veruska (just married), Jason and Ian!. Thanks to Jenny (a very sweet cat lady), who gave me her van, we squeezed them all for one long, sweaty trip.
Luckily Jonathan, Liz and Roy (Jonathan's dad) decided to get a taxi to Glenburn, and so did Anna and Peter.
By Thursday, almost everyone was there, to spend one last day with the Meister before he would get married...
Posted by Olaf Olgiati the 12 May 2008
But I know, and I understand. South Africa is a far away place, far far (far) away from the usual Meister's world (Europe and USA), and far for all the friends that Lindsey and I met in our years in London (Australia!).
I remember when I was younger and wanted to get married in Las Vegas dressed as a cowboy, approaching my hot future wife dressed as a Hooter Girl, but only now I realize how stupid (or full of raging hormones) I was. Never in that picture were my friends and family around me. It was always me, the hooter girl and Elvis blessing our vows for 50 dollars, and a buffet with plenty of spicy chicken wings and Lynchburg lemonades.
Only now I realize how important it to have people that saw you become what you are today, that witnessed the most embarrassing moments of your life (and are not shy of sharing it with everyone else), and shared the best, probably on a football field (ask Beppe, or Max, or Ian) or in bar. 
The team arrived on time with the help of Lindsey's father (you can't even imagine how helpful was Lindsey's family over those weeks!) I could split them easily in our cars to drive them back home.
Unimpressed by my first shy attempts at fixing the house
, and horrified but what the previous owners have done (and the lack of tools by my side), he started his quest of sanding, fixing, varnishing, buying tools in the shop and painting inside the house, with the help of David when he was around (not too sure which language they used, but they managed to understand each other - or at least I hope!). 
My mum decided to arrive only later, with her companion, and to avoid embarrassing situations; I decided to organize the whole trip so she could meet my dad only at the wedding. Divorce, what a pain in the bum.
You see, my dad likes to read. A lot. One of his favorite authors has always been Wilbur Smith , known for all the sagas and stories about the Afrikaners, the English Colonialists and the wars with the Zulu and other tribes (i.e. Xhosa) . He traveled around the world back in the 60's, 70's and 80's, always for work, never for pleasure, and he always regretted not being able to visit South Africa.
I knew what I needed to do and only few days earlier I booked a visit to the Lesedi Cultural Village , one of those tourist attractions where you can see how people lived from the different black tribes that were originally here.
At the village they had to quickly reorganize all the shows in the giant tent but it was worth it. We visited the kraals and saw the different kind of constructions they lived in, and after a slow start, with the necessary explanation of the differences between tribes (mostly how they dress and if they click when they talk, or not...), it was time for the energetic (and somehow painful) tribal dances.
Definitely my personal highlight was the Challenge. The main Zulu guy challenged any adult male around to fight against his biggest warrior in the inner circle, by the traditional Zulu rules. After 5 minutes of silence in the medium sized crowd sitting around (around 60-70 people), I decided to answer to the challenge and I stepped in to fight with their warrior.
They gave me a small shield and some sort of hammer, just lighter and made of wood. The rules are similar to fencing, with the addition of the shield. You are supposed to hit the opponent, step back, block the attack and so on, following some sort of rhythm. It was quite short but intense, and thanks to a probably illegal move (instead of following the normal path I hit the guy somewhere else while he was expecting a regular blow) the fight was over soon. Sure, no blood was spilled (this is how they decided the winner) but I'm sure I made the Italians in the world very proud.
After the tribal show we ate at the restaurant inside the village, for a fantastic buffet offering the best of true south African food, from pap (some sort of polenta) to crocodile meat (tastes like chicken), from fish to delicious malva pudding.
I booked all my guests in Glenburn for the night before and the night after, so they could relax before and later (very important if you have traveled all this way from Europe and the USA!). I had two more trips scheduled to the airport to collect Max and Beppe (arriving from Italy) and Dominik (from Poland, without his baggage lost and found only 2 days later) and, a day later the final group: Paolo, Veruska (just married), Jason and Ian!. Thanks to Jenny (a very sweet cat lady), who gave me her van, we squeezed them all for one long, sweaty trip.