Exclusivo: La Pareja Feliz

Hola from Cochabamba. It´s official, a Jacobs has finally got married. Marioly and I had a wonderful day, combining the best of Bolivian, Catholic, English and Jewish traditions including lots of folk dancing, a reading from Corinthians, a best man, wedding speeches, Israeli music and the breaking of the glass, and we even make the Society pages of Cochabamba´s Los Tiempos newspaper!

There are photos courtesy of my friend Nick, who also has his own inimitable account of our wedding which you can see by clicking on the link, and my wedding speech below...



"I want to start by saying a few thanks. First of all to everyone for coming, we have guests who have travelled a long way to be here – from England, Spain, Israel, Morocco, Peru, France, Belgium, United States, from all over Bolivia and of course from Cochabamba. it really makes us so happy to see you here.

Thank you very much to my best man Andy for your kind words. We have known each other since we lived together in France 12 years ago & it means so much to me that I have got you to return to Bolivia and share this occasion with us. However I must point out that Andy has not always given me the best of advice, I remember clearly the day when I was planning my first trip to Bolivia and Andy said to do not bother going to Cochabamba, there is nothing there! I forgive you, you had no way of knowing about Marioly…

Marioly and I also want to use this very public occasion to say how much the love and support of our families mean to us. While today may be about our sacred union, it is much more than that, it is bringing together two families who share all that is best in common. One of the things that Marioly and I share is just how important family is to us. While some English boys might find the whole Latin culture a bit overwhelming, it is impossible not to feel at home in the Lopez family even if my brother-in-laws idea of play leaves me with bruises. Also, while London is very far, Marioly has a new family who think the world of her and with Skype we forget the distances.

We are also so lucky to have not one wonderful celebration but two, we would like to thank Tony & Flora for the lovely party in London and Jose Luis and Maria Christina for all their hard work that has made today possible.

I want to use this opportunity to tell you a bit about my ‘amor’ who I met just over 12 months ago. A special mention must go to Dieter, who I met a couple of days after arriving in Bolivia and so generously invited me to his wedding to Claudia the following week: it was there that I first met Marioly. So it was not quite love at first sight at the wedding… more like second or third. Pretty much from then onwards, we have been inseparable and in January, on the way back from our holiday in Chile, I proposed to Marioly in a most romantic setting, in a taxi in La Paz on the way to her uncle and aunt´s house. I am not allowed to say that Marioly is perfect, her mum has told me on theological grounds that no human being is completely free of sin… but she is most definitely perfect for me.

Also I can strongly recommend that getting a Spanish speaking girlfriend is by far and away the best way to learn a new language. In the early days it was great too as I could pretend I did not understand what Marioly was telling me. I am also very proud of my large but often completely useless vocabulary that I have picked up however it can be really difficult to engineer opportunities to make use of it:

• Es un muchacho sin oficio ni beneficio - he´s a good for nothing layabout
• Esas ninos me van a llevar a la tumba – these kids will be the death of me
• Las polillas me han dejado el jersey como un colador – the moths have eaten great holes in my jumper…………… actually that one has come in handy.
  

As for the future, after the wedding and our honeymoon in Brazil, Marioly and I will be studying next year in London and plan to stay around there for a few more years but our long-term aim is to come back and live in Bolivia. This is such a wonderful country and I think that people concentrate only on its problems, which are real, and Evo´s jumpers, which are terrible, but when I think of Bolivia I think of its incredible beauty and variety, its natural resources, there the endless festivals and parades; salteñas; that everyone knows how to dance and endless family parties; and the eternal sunshine in Cochabamba which makes it a challenge for anyone to wake up in a bad mood. I could go on, but I think you get the point, the country has so much going for it and I for one will be proud to live here.

Thank you once again for sharing this most special occasion with us and we look forward to seeing you all in London!"

Un beso muy fuerte

Julian & Marioly