Mom got a job offer in Singapore in 2016, and we were going there on February 10, but my Aunt Vika had a wedding on Feb. 3. We could not miss it, so we decided to stop over in Belarus to go to Aunt Vika’s wedding. I would also say hello to the family and meet my best Belarusian friend, Zahar.

We flew in on 01/31/18, to get ready for the wedding. We had a lot of fun doing it. Zahar also came to my house and we played around for a looong time. Evan also joined in.

There was a lot of preparation on the day of the wedding. Everybody got a hair remake and makeup (not me, of course). Everybody looked so nice! But Vika looked like a princess, she was very beautiful! All the boys wore nice suits, so we looked like gentlemen. Mom also looked like a princess! Grandma Larisa and Great-grandma Lena looked amazing too.

Vika’s husband’s name is Sergey. This is funny because Mom (Vika’s sister) also has a husband named Sergey (my dad), so 2 sisters both have a husband named Sergey! I wonder if people should call Dad ‘Sergey 1’ and Uncle Sergey ‘Sergey 2’ when they are both in the same place?

I played the violin as a performance. I played two pieces. One was called ‘Palladio’ by Karl Jenkins, and the other ‘Perpetual Motion – Little Suite No. 6′ by Carl Bohm. It is a coincidence that both of the composers’ first names are pronounced the same way.

I also played ‘Guess The Tune’ with the MC. I played 5 pieces, and the people at the wedding were supposed to guess what piece I was playing. For example, I played ‘Yellow Submarine’ by the Beatles, and the audience guessed it very quickly, because it is such a famous piece. The other pieces were also pretty successful.

After that, there was a lot of cool things that happened at the wedding. One thing that happened was that a live band performed and EVERYBODY danced! There was also a rapper that rapped ‘I Like To Move It’ with the band. I was the main dancer. It was a great surprise when a giant panda appeared in the middle of a song and started dancing! All the kids ran up to the panda and started hugging it and dancing with it. I squeezed its belly, and it was very squishy.

After the panda went, there was a magic show. The magician did amazing magic tricks. Most of them were with doves, but those were the most amazing. For example, he took a picture with a dove on it, and made the dove fly out of the picture. The picture was left with only a blank background. He also made a piece of white cloth become a dove. I don’t know HOW he did any of the tricks.

After the performances, everybody got balloons. The balloons had LEDs inside them. We went outside and let them out into the sky. Evan, Polina, and Ulyana kept their balloons. They were the only people that kept theirs. I did not regret that I let my balloons go, since it was a great sight to see all those balloons flying in the night sky.

It was an amazing wedding. I hope that Vika and Sergey have a great life together.

After the wedding, I went to Zahar’s house. He moved, so he and his dad came to pick me up and take me to their house. Their house is awesome, and we had a lot of fun there.

My family and I went to Mir, which is where my great-grandparents live. They live on a farm, which is fun, because me and Evan get to see if the chickens laid any eggs. Because it was winter, which is the chickens’ not-laying-egg time, they lay up to 1 egg a day. When it is spring, they lay about 3 a day. It is fun being at my grandparents’ farm. And did I mention the awesome view? They live across the road from Mir Castle, so there is always a great view.

It was an amazing stopover in Belarus, filled with fun events and great people. On to the next adventure!