Easter traditions

All’s well in the motherland. It is so interesting learning about life under communism, gining their independence and Chernobyl. It’s all relatively recent. 1991 for independence. Natalya came home for the weekend holiday and since her boys are elsewhere she and I have been talking. Well, I’m listening..she’s quite a talker and with her accent and broken English I think I’m getting things correctly but I’m not sure! I do think she’s a wonderful mother, a hard worker and someone who knows how to endure hardship. “That’s life” she says a lot. And smiles.
She asked today where I get my dark skin. The mysterious coloring. Though I’ve been here just 2 weeks I’m getting a tan and it’s a contrast to the creamy white here. I have seen some kids with my coloring though.
So Easter is bigtime here. You go to the church at 11pm Sat, get your food blessed, your willows that will turn into tea that you wash with, and then go home about 4 am for breakfast. Not everyone goes the fulltime or at all but this morning she and I had the traditional breakfast. She had cooked all day yesterday even though the kids aren’t home and then it sits out on the table overnight…it’s tradition. She is not to light fire today. She told me that everyone was calling this morning to tell her on their way back from church…”Christ has risen!” She sort of chuckled.
First off, she said we must have a glass of homemade wine! A toast! 8am. Then colored eggs that we have to crack with another egg not a utensil on the top and the bottom. I think it’s a contest to see whose egg is strongest. After that there is special bread like a giant cupcake with frosting on top that is the only bread you are supposed to eat for 3 days. There was also a chicken stew with the fat congealed on the top, a fish soup that was on the stove overnight, some great cabbage salted and stored in a big jar for 2 weeks that is good for your entire digestive system, another fish salad, there’s a whole baked chicken on the table that is not visually very appetizing. Another mushroom and something else dish that was cooked yesterday and looks weird. The overnight on the table thing without seran wrap is certainly a new one. So, I ate a bit of everything and really all good. I’m really enjoying all the different cabbages. Get ready Paul, I’ll be making a mixture for our digestion!!
During breakfast she told me more folklore, more about her life, and then showed me LOTS of photos on the computer. Maybe a bit long…like 2 hours but she’s really sweet and trying to get me to learn about their culture. Told me this great romantic story about a woman many years ago who was a slave. Sounds like a book actually if its not already. The trick on all of this is that I need to fill in the missing words correctly and not change the story. She doesn’t want to be interrupted as she really loves telling stories. I’m listening and thinking…interpreting what I think she means to say.
After the long photo show, I wandered into the kitchen thinking I’d make myself maybe a cheese sandwich as I am supposed to make my own food here and feel bad when I eat theirs. But she said “sit down. We have vodka now! Homemade from my sister.” So there I was wine for breakfast and a shot of vodka for lunch!! After a toast we threw that back, throat is now really clear and Nataly said “this will help clear all the blood vessels in brain! Want another one? Eat cabbage now. Very good after vodka” Guess I best have another one then? Over lunch I learned more. I think all day I’ve said about 20 words. It’s just so nice. Her youngest married son is spending the weekend at his in-laws at the farm in the country and the oldest is doing the same with his girlfriend and a group of friends.
Tomorrow is a holiday for everyone and the tradition is to go to the cemetery and visit the graves. She won’t be able to because her family land is too far away and she needs to go back to her coursework…a 7 hr trainride away. She told me that her father had a problem with vodka and was aggressive and there were problems. He died at around 50 and her mom at 75. Her mom was a very strong woman as well and when she was dying she refused to be buried next to her husband. NO way will I be next to him! So she is buried in a different cemetery all together!
I could go on and on …..like the carrots, the potatoes....she gives me her real life story. I’ll be heading out this afternoon to visit my kids from the halfway house orphanage as they cannot go home for the holidays. I need to stop at the store and buy some candy for them. You can probably tell that I am really relaxed and comfortable here. Work with the children is really fun for me. I enjoy teaching as always, small classrooms, 35 min classes, just a few naughty boys and mostly pure enthusiasm that is just very very heartwarming. But for the computer that disconnects in the middle of an email, little stress…well, as long as I don’t have to talk to mr. greed, Alex, the dude that runs this program..
I told him I wanted to know exactly what percent of my room and board goes to him. He hemmed and hawed. I said fine if you don’t want to tell me but it is customary in my country to be open and before I can recommend a program I need to know the details. His wife who pretends that she doesn’t speak English suggested that he write it all down for me. Why not just tell me? Well, we’ll see if he does. I can’t ignore the fact that he is a sneaky b---. So, we’ll see. Sasha says there is no changing him that it is just the way he is and the country is. But he also says that is what is wrong with the country. Moving away from corruption must be one of the toughest things in developing countries. So, even if there is no change perhaps some exposure to our western style is not a bad thing. And Sasha gets a kick out of me questioning Alex. When I talk to Alex, Sasha always stands nearby and gives me little smiles. Both sons seem to dislike him but maybe not.
Okeedokeee…that’s it for today. Going to research Simon Says type games on the computer!! Hope things are going strong for you there. Stay in touch! Two weeks done, two weeks to go. Love, Joyce (If you like the blog thing…which I am only so so about…I posted some new things, new descriptions)