Paul's Ukrainian Peace Corps Journal II

Ukrainian Christmas 1/7/16

"Merry Christmas"

Office staff in front of Christmas Tree ( новорічна ялинка)

Christmas Update-Traditions
Several of my blog readers had asked about Christmas in Ukraine, so I thought I would share a little update from my previous blog.  It is definitely an important holiday here in Ukraine but it is celebrated on 1/7/16 instead of the 12/25 date that we are used to in the states.  This is due to the old Julian calendar.  It is celebrated starting on the evening of 1/6 and continuing on 1/7 and ends on 1/19, the date of the Epiphany. There is a tradition of having a family Holy Dinner (Святу Вечерю) with 12 traditional dishes (see below).

The first dish served is called "kutia" (кутя), which is boiled grains (usually wheat) with honey, nuts and raised added.  One of my office colleagues brought some for me the day before Christmas eve that her grandmother had prepared and it was very tasty!  The other dishes served are a variety of vegetable, fruit and meat dishes.There is also the tradition of Grandfather spirit (дід дух) celebration where the head of the household brings in to the home sheaves of grain, which are kept in reminder of the harvests.  This appears to be more common nowadays in rural or farming areas (see below).

 

After the dinner, there is the tradition of singing Ukrainian Christmas carols, and many people (especially young people with church organizations) participate in the tradition of Shchedryk (Щедрик) or Koliadky which involves going to homes with sparklers called while singing carols and collecting donations for the poor.  The song "Carol of the Bells" that many of us recorder players are familiar with, comes from this tradition.

Father Frost

There is also the familiar tradition of St. Nicholas (St. Mykolay) delivering gifts to children - but here it is an even older tradition with ancient origins dating back hundreds of years called the tradition of Father Frost and his goddaughter Snow Maiden ( Дід Мороз і Снігуронька).  I saw evidence of both traditions in the celebrations here.

Father Frost and Snow Maiden

Christmas tree in the main square of Kirovograd

Rides for children 

Christian Religious Traditions

Some of you had asked if Christmas was celebrated here with Christian traditions, given the previous history before independence.  There is definitely religious freedom of expression in Ukraine. Most of the people celebrate in the orthodox tradition.  These include the Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarch, the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarch and the Autocephaleous Orthodox Church.  It appears as if the actual religious beliefs are the same, but there are different political affiliations, which seem to be the main difference. There is also a smaller number of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and other affiliations.  I did not have a chance to go to one of the orthodox services, but did attend a Catholic service on Christmas eve of 12/24 that we are familiar with.  The church was opposite my apartment building so it was very convenient.The service is similiar to Catholic services in the states, but they also had music of Bach played by an ensemble in the choir - a wonderful addition in my opinion!

Catholic Christmas eve mass

Christmas manger

 Holiday Music

There was ample opportunity to enjoy music of a very high caliber here during the holiday season.  In addition to the music at the church, I attended concerts at the library, local music school, a childrens play at a kindergarden (from an invitation by my language tutor!) that included a Baba Yagi (ancient mythical witch), and a chorale presentation of Ukrainian and Russian music at the local Regional Museum down the street from my apartment. A veritable feast of holiday music!

Traditional Ukrainian holiday folk songs at the Library

Music School festivity

Concert at Music School

Well known guest, local First Violinist

Kindergarten presentation

Watch out for Baba Yagi!

Baba Yagi (scary!)

Holiday Concert at local Museum

My flautist friend Grigoriy and I enjoying the concert at the Museum

 

Office Celebration

In the office we celebrated with a holiday party with some gifts, lots of good food (including homemade shasklik - known to Americans as shish kabob), singing of carols, many wishes of good cheer, a group game and much jollity.  I was responsible for bringing the homemade eggnog, based on a recipe by the previous PCV Gail.  In fact, the staff insisted that I follow Gail's recipe as it was very popular 2 years ago!

We also toasted continuing friendship and cooperation between our respective countries.  I felt right at home.

Andre preparing fantastic shashlik!

Celebrating Ukraine and America Friendship

Humorous group game

Our NGO directors Liudmyla and Inge

Ready to enjoy the wonderful food!

I hope that this update to my previous blog gives a bit of an insight into the most important holiday in Ukraine - Christmas! As always, feel free to share some comments by emailing me.

З Різдвом! Миру та щастя всім! (Merry Christmas! Peace and Happiness to all!)

This Blog is my own views and not meant to represent Peace Corps policy or opinions.