Happy Old New Years!!!

So in Ukraine, the entire month of January has been reserved for pure holiday celebration. First is the grandaddy of them all, New Years. Then a week later they have christmas... I wasn't here for those two holidays. However when I got back to my site I was just in time for the Old New Years! Woo Hoo!!! So it's the night of the 13th... and It's my first night back at my site... I was all set for a nice long sleep. I was extremely exhausted and passed out promptly at 9pm. Well no one informed me of the traditions that go along with the old New Year's celebration so I locked the doors, turned off the lights and hopped in my new mummy sleeping bag to rest for the night with the -30Deg. Celsius.

In the middle of the night, I was awakend by a loud knocking sound at my door. I figured it was a druken friend of my land lady's son in law so I chose to ignore it.... well the knocking didn't stop. I stumbled out to the kitchen and asked who was there... A man's voice responded that he was here for the Old New Years. I told him that there was no party here and that he has the wrong house. He insisted that he must come in. He continued to tell me what it was that he wanted and It turns out that it is tradition to go house to house on Old New Years. So I decided that if I just let him in for a moment he would leave faster than If I didn't. When I opened the door I realized that there were three men standing on my doorstep. They came into the kitchen and peeked into my living room and saw the two large suitcases open on the floor. They promptly asked where my husband was. I said I don't have a husband wondering where this was going... They had come to bless my house with these seeds but it was bad luck to bless a house with out a man in the house. Of course these three men, who I have now concluded, came from the church and I was not the first house on their list. They promptly decided to alieviate the problem of my singlehood by calling my host father Ivan.

Ivan said that he would be there in a half hour and the men said that they would return at that time. Well Ivan showed up and the men did not return when he did. It wasn't until an hour later that they returned... At this point I didn't even want their stupid blessed seeds thrown over my house in my suitcase. SO they finally come back and bless the house and then ask for some vodka... Well I don't have any vodka so we all did a shot of compot which is just juice.

All this in the middle of the night... Geez I just wish someone had told me and I would have put a "Please Do Not Disturb" sign on my door.