(no subject)
Hello from Warsaw, Poland!
I arrived here this morning via an overnight bus from Vilnius, Lithuania. Planning to connect with my old pal Marko and maybe spend New Year's with him and his girlfriend Iwona.
I spent Christmas in Latvia, in a tiny tiny remote village (in the general vicinity of Estonia) with the extended family of Sanita, a former au-pair of my family. Her mother and grandmother have a small 4-room house with a sort of central brick wood-burning furnace/fireplace that jutted into each room. It was also connected to the kitchen stove.
"Sleepless in Seattle" was on the TV, with Russian subtitling and shabby Latvian dubbing -- one guy does all the male voices and one women does all the female voices. This is typical, apparently. We decorated the Christmas tree with red glass bulbs and electric light strands. An old friend brought over hand-crocheted angels for the three women of the family, and these too were placed on the tree. Dinner was out in a veranda/sheltered glass room adjoining the house. Two large wood tables were covered with different dishes (more than 9, for superstition)... sauerkrauts, sausages, roast chicken, homemade meatballs, pickled mushrooms and radishes and cucumbers, boiled potatoes, gravy, sweet pickled pumpkin... and more! Plus three different kinds of homemade fruit liquor (made from old jams), homemade fruit juice, and sparkling wine.
After dinner, we gathered around the Christmas tree. Sanita drew names from a hat. Each person had to first sing a song or recite a poem, then they had to light a candle which was clipped on to the tree, before they could retrieve their gift(s). There were some 15-20 people filling this tiny room, godparents, goddaughters, current and former neighbors, co-workers and their families.. And as the night wore on, the vodka was brought out, and everyone got drunker and drunker, and little old ladies recited gleefully recited dirty poems and danced about with their candles. Fire everywhere! Then the firecrackers and sparklers and cake was brought out.
The Latvian Christmas tree being set afire!
Firecrackers, inside? Would never happen in MY house! It was fantastic! A big wooshing firecracker shot sparks out of the top, showering light onto the carpet. The sparklers were bent so that they could hang from the tree and lit up. Parts of the tree sizzled and filled the room with the smell of fresh singed greenery. A red Christmas ornament caught fire and melted through. Everyone ate cake (a fresh custardy layered cake that had cooked for two days, then sat another day to absorb all the fruity and custardy goodness) and drank more fruit alcohol. Suddenly everyone seemed to speak some English.
It was a wild night. Baby Jesus? Never heard of him. It seems Pagan Latvia lives on..
As for Vilnius, Lithuania? I spent two days with a crowd of other Couchsurfers and HospitalityClub folks, sleeping among 9+ other bodies on the floor of an attic apartment. When the bodies were awake, they were drinking beer and smoking pot practically non-stop until late late at night. So much Pink Floyd, Ani Difranco, Rage Against the Machine, Emir Kusturitca... And did I mention that among them were like 4 resident ferrets and a tall German guy (he looked vaguely like my friend Max) who was just OBSESSED with David Hasselhoff. Everyone was on their way to Riga, Latvia for the huge CS/HC New Year's Party there.
I arrived here this morning via an overnight bus from Vilnius, Lithuania. Planning to connect with my old pal Marko and maybe spend New Year's with him and his girlfriend Iwona.
I spent Christmas in Latvia, in a tiny tiny remote village (in the general vicinity of Estonia) with the extended family of Sanita, a former au-pair of my family. Her mother and grandmother have a small 4-room house with a sort of central brick wood-burning furnace/fireplace that jutted into each room. It was also connected to the kitchen stove.
"Sleepless in Seattle" was on the TV, with Russian subtitling and shabby Latvian dubbing -- one guy does all the male voices and one women does all the female voices. This is typical, apparently. We decorated the Christmas tree with red glass bulbs and electric light strands. An old friend brought over hand-crocheted angels for the three women of the family, and these too were placed on the tree. Dinner was out in a veranda/sheltered glass room adjoining the house. Two large wood tables were covered with different dishes (more than 9, for superstition)... sauerkrauts, sausages, roast chicken, homemade meatballs, pickled mushrooms and radishes and cucumbers, boiled potatoes, gravy, sweet pickled pumpkin... and more! Plus three different kinds of homemade fruit liquor (made from old jams), homemade fruit juice, and sparkling wine.
After dinner, we gathered around the Christmas tree. Sanita drew names from a hat. Each person had to first sing a song or recite a poem, then they had to light a candle which was clipped on to the tree, before they could retrieve their gift(s). There were some 15-20 people filling this tiny room, godparents, goddaughters, current and former neighbors, co-workers and their families.. And as the night wore on, the vodka was brought out, and everyone got drunker and drunker, and little old ladies recited gleefully recited dirty poems and danced about with their candles. Fire everywhere! Then the firecrackers and sparklers and cake was brought out.
The Latvian Christmas tree being set afire!
Firecrackers, inside? Would never happen in MY house! It was fantastic! A big wooshing firecracker shot sparks out of the top, showering light onto the carpet. The sparklers were bent so that they could hang from the tree and lit up. Parts of the tree sizzled and filled the room with the smell of fresh singed greenery. A red Christmas ornament caught fire and melted through. Everyone ate cake (a fresh custardy layered cake that had cooked for two days, then sat another day to absorb all the fruity and custardy goodness) and drank more fruit alcohol. Suddenly everyone seemed to speak some English.
It was a wild night. Baby Jesus? Never heard of him. It seems Pagan Latvia lives on..
As for Vilnius, Lithuania? I spent two days with a crowd of other Couchsurfers and HospitalityClub folks, sleeping among 9+ other bodies on the floor of an attic apartment. When the bodies were awake, they were drinking beer and smoking pot practically non-stop until late late at night. So much Pink Floyd, Ani Difranco, Rage Against the Machine, Emir Kusturitca... And did I mention that among them were like 4 resident ferrets and a tall German guy (he looked vaguely like my friend Max) who was just OBSESSED with David Hasselhoff. Everyone was on their way to Riga, Latvia for the huge CS/HC New Year's Party there.