Uruguay part 2

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Next morning we got up and found out that they had gone to hospital at about 8.30 as she was sufficiently in labour! How exciting!! We had organised to meet Abuela at 11.30 and went in a taxi to meet her at her home. SHe had her driver waiting and off we all went on a tour of Montevideo, La Rambla, a long stretch of pavers that runs along a seawall (well a river wall I guess) all along the beaches of Montevideo for kilometers, we saw Diego Forlans house, Peñarol training ground, lots of rich houses and new apartment blocks and a few shopping centres. Eventually we stopped at Punta Carreta shopping centre for lunch (it used to be a prison) and had a great steak lunch! We had recieved a message from Tato while eating ice cream from La Cigale (a very famous ice creamery here) that Jimena had given birth that afternoon and the baby Gervasio would be sharing Dario´s birthday 😊
Abuela went back to the home with her driver and we stayed at the centre to find a baby present for Jimena and Arturo, we found the cutest little set for winter for a 2 month old and thought it appropriate from the whole Dario´s family and us. we later found out he was a 4.3Kg baby and the clothes fitted him almost perfectly :p We went home and then to Montevideo Shopping after I spoke to my mum about the recipe I wanted to make for Dario´s birthday dinner that night, plus i bought myself some sandals (we had been invited to a wedding the following night and I had a dress already but not shoes). We bought all of the ingredients and I bought the 2kg cake I had ordered 2 days earlier while shopping with Jimena, I managed to keep it wrapped up in butchers paper the bakery had given me as I told them the bday boy was with me in the next aisle! That night I cooked Moroccon Chicken for the family, minus Jimena and Arturo but plus Nicholas and his fiance Cecilia. They liked it and Tato liked it so much he ate 3 whole portions! even though my couscous wasnt that great (I blame the couscous, I did everything right, it didnt). Then we had the cake with a giant candle that is more like a firework!
Next morning we called the dentist to organise another appointment for me, though by this point i had no more pain. We were booked in for 5pm but later she rang and said 3 as they had a cancellation. We went in and she looked at the xrays... turns out my wisdom tooth on that side (the left on the bottom) was trying to push out, but was pushing at a 45 degree angle and was pushing my second molar (the one next to it), hence the pain, but that second molar had a root canal earlier in 2010 so it wasnt feeling anything much at all, so all the pain was in my wisdom tooth. Anyway, the conclusion was since I didnt have anymore pain, try and wait until I get home and get my dentist to look at it. We did get charged for this consult but didnt have enough cash, so had to go downstairs and wait in a long queue to use the atm machine close by. Once back at the house we started getting ready to go to the wedding of Dario´s second cousin. We had called his mother, Ana to find out if we could just catchup while we were in the country and she invited us to the wedding! I wore my new dress and sandals and Dario wore a suit borrowed from Tato and shoes from Nicholas.
Tato was very kind and drove us the half hour to the site, a catholic church near the Zone America, where we were early (8.30pm) so we could meet Ana etc, we met Nicholas and his sister Maria Paz, and a few other relatives such as Dario´s great aunt, Jean, who is 94 and speaks english perfectly with a british accent as she went to a british school in argentina when she was young, very odd. We all took our places in the church as all the other guests started arriving... the church was packed, and then some were standing out the back! (they sat us right up the front with the family). Then the service started and Sofia and her father walked down the aisle. She looked gorgeous with a long train and long veil. No bridesmaids in this country. The whole service was of course in spanish and quite long, but it seemed really nice, and the happy couple were very relaxed. After the ceremony everyone hung around at the entrance to the church congratulating the family, and eventually everyone left to go the venue for the reception. Matias, the younger brother to the groom drove us and his girlfriend to the party. (At the entrance there was a group of people holding a sign sayng that the money for the wedding was stolen from the people of uruguay... they referred to the father of the bride, spending time in prison (but was out now) for allegedly stealing money from the bank of uruguay.)
The party was huge!!! We were on the guest list and were told we could sit anywhere between 17 and 25 (table numbers) and we sat down with a table full of people we didnt know, then we got a tap on the shoulder as some family of Dario came and asked if we wanted to sit with them, we got up and went to sit with them. I sat next to his second cousin Victoria who shares Dario´s birthday (down to the year and hospital, Dario is apparently 2 hours older and that makes him ´wiser´ lol) who speaks perfect english, and after talking in spanish with the rest of the table for a while we sat chatting and drinking wine and champagne that the waiters kept filling up! The food was mostly finger food that waiters brought around, very yummy adn then a plate of giant ravioli for everyone which was very good. There was a dance floor where dj played a waltz for the bride and groom which was nice and everyone crowded around to see and take photos. Then the real dance music started and all the bride and groom people went nuts! picking the couple up and dancing them round the room.
We bumped into another cousin of Dario´s and the 3 of us plus Victoria went and had some champagne and a chat, meanwhile all the desserts were served! So of course we went and had some of the many many many cakes and icecreams that were on display in the middle of the big room. Then off for a dance! Victoria and her mother and the both of us left at around 5am, they very kindly drove us home. We slept a lot the next morning.
We got up and went to catch a bus in the afternoon to the little satellite town an hour away called Pando where Dario´s great Uncle lives with his family. We met them at the bus stop and chatted all the way back to their house. We stayed there for the night, very kindly Adriana, Dario´s cousin and her son Claudio gave up their shared room for u for the night and slept on mattresses in the living room. We ate a lot and chatted a lot and had a fabulous 2 days there with them! Adriana makes beautiful accessories, including accessories for weddings and she showed us a wedding catalogue with her products in it. As a gift she gave me a gorgeous necklace and i loved it so much I bought more off her as gifts for people at home. Dario and Claudio (who is 21) played some computer games and at 7pm the next day we left to go to the bus stop (realising we were going to be late as our next appointment in the long line of family meetings was in fact that evening at 8.30!) But we texted ahead and got the ok to turn up late for dinner with Dario´s cousin Marta. We went home, got changed and got a life from tato to Marta´s house for a very lovely dinner. We met her parrot too. We talked and showed photos until 1 in the morning then took a cab home. We arrived back to find out that Jimena was home from hospital.

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Photos

Our table
all relatives of Dario