Halloween
K asked whether or not they do Halloween here.
The answer is no.
Beforehand I talked to my host family and extended family about Halloween, what it is and how cool it is, because it is. It's probably easiest my favorite holiday, simply because I love dressing up and going to parties and eating candy. I did not tell her that last year I went to the department party dressed as a Russian mail order bride. I thought that would probably be culturally insensitive, since there are also many Ukrainian bride exchanges here and Ukraine is a definite stop in the human trafficking route. It's crazy. And something to delve into (in terms of education) later, quite possibly as a secondary project.
But no, there was no Halloween for me this year. I went and bought some candy and ended up giving it to the little one telling him that it was because it is Halloween and made him say "trick or treat" to me. Ah. That was enough for me. Plus, I got to eat the rest of the candy I bought, I mean, share it with the other girls in my cluster at Safety Day.
"Safety Day" you ask?
Yes, we have an entire day of dedicated to making sure that we can be the safest volunteers on the planet. We looked at stats on crimes in Ukraine and talked about how to keep ourselves out of trouble. Avoiding alcohol and walking alone at night seem to be extremely key in this equation.
We had this safety day in some small town past another city and it was far away. Well, about an hour and a half away or longer, seeing as how we picked up our link group in their podunk village in the morning before heading off to this other podunk town. Members of the other group mentioned how they celebrated Halloween by going out to a local bar and having a few beers. Some people took the opportunity to dress up. I asked what they dressed up as. Their costumes were unclear, apparently.
The next holiday (I hear) is the Christmas holiday season. Apparently the western half (the most Catholic part of the country, thanks to next door neighbor Poland) celebrates on the 25th, the day that we will depart from some old time Soviet holiday place to our sites. Yes folks, that is how I will spend my Christmas, on some train heading out to the coal mines of Eastern Ukraine.
Traditional Christmas is celebrated on January 7th, after New Year, which is on the first of the year, and is celebrated much like our Christmas, from what I hear and the pictures I have seen. Kids get candy and money, decorate a tree and eat food. I can't wait.
The answer is no.
Beforehand I talked to my host family and extended family about Halloween, what it is and how cool it is, because it is. It's probably easiest my favorite holiday, simply because I love dressing up and going to parties and eating candy. I did not tell her that last year I went to the department party dressed as a Russian mail order bride. I thought that would probably be culturally insensitive, since there are also many Ukrainian bride exchanges here and Ukraine is a definite stop in the human trafficking route. It's crazy. And something to delve into (in terms of education) later, quite possibly as a secondary project.
But no, there was no Halloween for me this year. I went and bought some candy and ended up giving it to the little one telling him that it was because it is Halloween and made him say "trick or treat" to me. Ah. That was enough for me. Plus, I got to eat the rest of the candy I bought, I mean, share it with the other girls in my cluster at Safety Day.
"Safety Day" you ask?
Yes, we have an entire day of dedicated to making sure that we can be the safest volunteers on the planet. We looked at stats on crimes in Ukraine and talked about how to keep ourselves out of trouble. Avoiding alcohol and walking alone at night seem to be extremely key in this equation.
We had this safety day in some small town past another city and it was far away. Well, about an hour and a half away or longer, seeing as how we picked up our link group in their podunk village in the morning before heading off to this other podunk town. Members of the other group mentioned how they celebrated Halloween by going out to a local bar and having a few beers. Some people took the opportunity to dress up. I asked what they dressed up as. Their costumes were unclear, apparently.
The next holiday (I hear) is the Christmas holiday season. Apparently the western half (the most Catholic part of the country, thanks to next door neighbor Poland) celebrates on the 25th, the day that we will depart from some old time Soviet holiday place to our sites. Yes folks, that is how I will spend my Christmas, on some train heading out to the coal mines of Eastern Ukraine.
Traditional Christmas is celebrated on January 7th, after New Year, which is on the first of the year, and is celebrated much like our Christmas, from what I hear and the pictures I have seen. Kids get candy and money, decorate a tree and eat food. I can't wait.
posted by Molly | 11:33 AM
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