Perpetual Change

The Holidays - In the far East and the far West (part I)

[sidenote: this is my 101st blog, and the other day marked my 2 year anniversary in Ukraine]

The new volunteers that I adopted last spring have re-adopted me. They, along with one of the soon to be departed group of volunteers, invited me to a Thanksgiving in the far East of Ukraine. I figured it was going to be the best time for me to make the 20 hour trip so, off I went. I say they re-adopted me, because of about 15 people, I was the only one from my group. We arrive to country on a two year schedule with a group of people and most socializing tends to be by group or close geographic proximity.

It was a very fun weekend, and I got to see lots of great people that I had not seen in a very long time. I got put in charge of the turkeys, which for all my love of Thanksgiving was my first time. It took Ukraine to teach me how to make a turkey. The oven was tricky, and I thought it looked a bit dry and crispy, but it tasted delicious; everyone agreed. Perhaps it was just because we wanted it so badly. I did stuffing too, and helped with the mashed potatoes, which are specialties of mine if I do say so. We had so much food, and it was all so delicious. We cooked at Jenna’s school kitchen. We even had pumpkin and apple pie. We all ate so much, it hurt. We just lounged around all night.

I had planned to do a dinner with traditional food for all the Ukrainians that have been a big help to me while I have been here, but they were really kind of unexcited when I was asking for which Saturday would be better for them. In an indirect culture, this usually means it is a bad idea for some reason that no one will tell you, but you may just find out if you persist. I didn’t want to risk finding out after cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 12 Ukrainians. Mom had even mailed me cranberry sauce (thanks, I took it to the village and my Ukrainian pseudo-relatives loved it). Instead, I canned pumpkin and wrote out a pumpkin pie recipe in Ukrainian, and gave a jar to each of them. This was much more successful. Many of their eyes really lit up with excitement or curiosity. I got the idea after cooking pies with three of my classes at school. The kids got really excited over the process and product, but it was stressful to deal with the kitchen, plus I had had some bad news from home that week.

They celebrate St. Nicolas’ day on December 17, and that is when they give presents. I didn’t really want anything, but many people, who know that I live alone, asked IF St. Nicolas visited me. A few Ukrainians remembered me which was very nice. My 11th grade class made a point to wish me happy holidays, which was sweet and unexpected, but they gave me this hideous present. A 10th grade class invited me for an ethics discussion and tea after school which is their tradition with their home room teacher (they have the same teacher from 4th grade to 11th when they finish school; they are like second parents for the kids). It was very interesting.

posted by jjs @ 1:50 PM