Panamanian Wedding

The greatest gift of couchsurfing is being among locals and experiencing their lives, even if its only for a few days.   Although, we have only been traveling for a few weeks, we have already met some incredible people who have been willing to share their lives with us.  Our Panamanian host, Roger, is not only a locomotives operator with insight to the Panama Canal,  but also he is a member of an a cappella choir well known in Panama.  During our visit, Roger had an engagement in which his choir would be performing at a wedding in Santiago, 4 hours away from the  city.  He asked his choir director, Electra, and she gave the ¨ok¨ for us to join them.

On the day of the wedding, we met up with the rest of Roger´s choir and loaded ourselves onto the bus they rented.  The choir consisted of a dynamic group of individuals from all age groups who went out of their way to treat us like guests of honor.  There was Carmen, a Columbian woman, who moved to Panama with her husband and was a tour guide.  There was Moises, who had spent some time in the United States.  There was Leroy, who had been with the choir since its beginnings 43 years ago, and Dagoberto who was 18 and taught music.  There were older ladies and young men who smiled at us and spoke to us in broken English while we spoke in broken Spanish.

On the way to the wedding, we made a stop  at an old church with intricate wood carvings inside.  The church was closed, but the keepers allowed the group to come inside.  We were told that this church was more than 300 years old and that a choir had not performed in it for 10 years.  Roger´s choir took this opportunity to rehearse their music for the wedding.  We listened in awe as the beautiful mixture of their voices created a perfect harmony.

When the rehearsal was over, we hopped back on the bus to make our way to the final destination.  The wedding was in a Catholic church, beautifully lit with evening´s approach.  We sat in the back and tried to appear inconspicuous, but achieved a few stares from the other guests.  Who could blame them?  They were dressed in suits and formal evening gowns while we were dressed in travel clothes.  The groom looked nervous; the bride looked stunning.  When she came out, the choir sang the wedding march in Spanish and we attempted to view the procession from our little corner in the church.  The ceremony was an hour and a half long with periodic singing from the choir.

When it was over, we loaded ourselves onto the bus and headed home.  We felt so grateful to have been a part of this very special day for one couple and to have seen our host in a completely different light.   Without couchsurfing, we know that this moment would not have been possible.