First dinner was Christmas Eve, Jan. 6th. Before dinner there were a variety of traditions to be adhered to. First was the saying of a long set of prayers, with many crossings. Then host father tried the traditional poppy seed/kasha dish (sweet and filling) and we followed example. Each of us (Host dad, mom, brother, grandma, 2 cousins) had beside our plate some garlic, some apple and a walnut. I'm not sure I got this right, but the garlic is good luck, the apple is happiness, and the walnut is strength. There was special mushroom vareniki in the borsch, which I was instructed to eat delicately, because there were various items hidden inside. I was lucky enough to bite down on a coin, which obviously means I will be rich. Other people found a pepper corn (short, hard, but spicy life), a sweet one (sweet life), and a trinket (you will find treasures). There was a ridiculous amount of food, and since I joined the family in fasting for the day, I was pretty hungry for dinner, which meant I ate too much, and promptly fell asleep, after the 3 rd round of dessert.
Christmas day I slept through the 7am church service, unfortunately. I'll go next year. Then a fancy brunch/lunch with just as much food. I asked why there was always one extra place set, and discovered it is for those who are no longer with us. Last night also had an extra place set. Then more cleanup, and more preparation, because…
Christmas day fancy dinner. Good friends came over, the family that we visited for new years, and another 4 hour dinner ensued. My favorite part was when the carolers came, mostly other teachers from school, my family sang with them (I know most of the melodies now, but no words yet) and gave all 10 singers shots of horilka (vodka?), martinis, bread, meat and sweets. There was also singing around the table before and after the carolers came, and my violin came out for a short appearance. Since this family has girls, I learned all about some traditions my family hadn't had to worry about. If you put a touch of honey on a girls cheek, it's said to attract men (honey is sweet…), and if you go outside and bang two spoons together and a dog barks, you have a man coming soon (what if a dog doesn't bark?). I personally think the honey method would be more successful, but I know very little about being a Ukrainian girl, or the best ways to attract Ukrainian men. Now very full, very content, and very tired.
Luckily tomorrow only has one fancy dinner, and it's at another house, so I am forbidden to help set up or clean up. Man's only responsibility when visiting another house is to keep the women's glasses full of whatever their drinking. Easy enough.
Part of my language training is watching the news, a lot more often then I did during training. I am sending peaceful thoughts to Kenya, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Georgia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Darfur. Those were the places on the news tonight. Not that thoughts have any effect. But thoughts can lead to words which can lead to action, and peaceful actions are needed in many places. My current events knowledge is incredibly poor, and I am realizing with limited internet I will have to make a much stronger effort to become and stay educated.
