So you’re standing in front of a church half-full of people you barely know, waiting for your sweetie to walk down the aisle. Your sweetie doesn’t show up and you recognize only a few of your sweetie’s family members – most of the ones you know aren’t there. Then the priest enters and starts his Mass, which you barely understand due to your limited Spanish. People are kneeling and praying and you generally have no clue what’s going on except that everyone is mostly ignoring you and your sweetie isn’t there.

Pro-Tip: THIS IS NORMAL!

You see, the only things that generally run on time in Peru are the Catholic Church and an occasional airline flight. The priest probably has 3 or 4 weddings scheduled on that beautiful day and if he were to wait for the bride, the last wedding would be 3 hours late. Just sit tight and about 2/3 through the mass, the church now full instead of half-full, your sweetie will show up, the priest will stop what he’s doing and your sweetie will walk down the aisle. Then everything goes on but at least you now have your sweetie who can translate for you.

whew.

* * *

We were invited to a friend’s wedding last week at the “Sistene Chapel of South America”, a small church about an hour outside of Cuzco with ceilings painted in the style of the Sistene Chapel. I’m a bad picture-taker but it’s absolutely beautiful. If you’re visiting Cuzco, don’t miss it.

Church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas, known as the Sistene Chapel of South America