From Russia with Love

C Rozhdestvom Vas! (Merry Christmas to one and all!)

This week proved to be one of the more depressing of my past four months since I was raised believing it should be spent with family and those you love. Although there was a serious lack of blood relatives, I was surrounded by my ‘Moscow family’, whom I love dearly. My feelings of homesickness were complicated by the fact that it wasn’t even Christmas in Russia. The Orthodox Church celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ on the seventh of January, and in any event, this holiday is strictly religious, void of the majority of American associations with family, presents, friends and ‘that special time of year’. For Russians, the most similar holiday to ‘Catholic Christmas’ as they call it is New Years, traditionally spent with family at home with presents, at tree and well wishes for the future.
Christmas Eve Eve started with a midday trip to Gorky Park. Although there are many parks in Moscow, some charge entrance fees, Gorky Park being on of them. When you go to one of these parks, however, you’re not paying for (snow-covered) grass and trees; you’re paying for the attractions. These paying parks have rides for children and adults alike, numerous beer and treat stands as well as complete restaurants and pubs. This time of year, many parks ice over their sidewalks, allowing Muscovites to skate through their beloved cradles of ‘nature’ (not to mention give the proprietors another attraction to charge rental/use fees for). Since it was a chilly –10 C on Friday, Lindsey, Sara and I briefly enjoyed the sights and sounds of the unusually sunny day before deciding to seek shelter inside. We navigated our way to a pub that looked particularly warm without being taken out by ice or ice-skaters and warmed up with some borsch and chai. When we left an hour and a half later, the sun had for the most part retreated into the horizon (it was about 4:15pm) and we called it a day to spend the rest of the night in the warm comfort of our homes.
Christmas Eve was spent in true American fashion, desperately trying to finish that last minute shopping. The three of us went to Izmailovskii Park, which is not really a park, but a market of traditional crafts and souvenirs that’s only open on the weekends. Aside from the requisite matryoshkas, shot glass/decanter sets, and fur hats, Izmailovskii is also the best place in Moscow to buy pirated DVDs in English (they usually go for $3 a pop, but when buying in bulk, compromises can be made). Lindsey went wild and for 800 rubles (around $35) bought at least ten movies.
The sun wasn’t shinning as much as it had the day before and the temperature was even colder, so in the darkness of five o’clock, we called it a day and headed back to the dorms to warm up before our Christmas dinner, which we had planned to have at a nearby Uzbek restaurant. Uzbek food is not traditional yuletide fare for either Russia or the States; we just wanted to treat ourselves to a nice meal with friends. It was comforting to hear Christmas carols as we came into the restaurant and checked out coats in, although half of them were sung in Russian. It was a cozy atmosphere, decorated in the style of a near-Asian harem. This was quite confusing until after we placed our orders and the music took a dramatic change. After a Russian version of ‘Jingle Bells’, the DJ cranked up an Arab beat and belly dancers started gyrating their hips between the tables, tempting the restaurant’s customers for g-string tips. Although not the most traditional of Christmas entertainment, it was at least an interesting alternative.
Three belly dancing performances later, paced at thirty-minute intervals; we took our leave of the restaurant and went back to the dorms where the festivities continued. To lift our Christmas spirits, we sat down for a private viewing of “Elf”, which Lindsey had just bought at Izmailovskii. This was the first time I’d ever seen Will Ferrell’s masterpiece of Santaland comedy, and I enjoyed it immensely. By the end of the movie, we were all singing Christmas carols, smiling and making merry. It actually felt like Christmas and I was full-on Christmas happy for the first time that whole week.
More than family, Christmas at ‘home on the range’ and my grandmother’s cooking, I missed the atmosphere that the holidays create in the States. As soon as Thanksgiving’s over, everyone breaks out the Christmas trees, sales start and every city becomes somehow hypnotized by the holiday spirit. The world seems nicer somehow and everyone’s taken by the excitement of the season. While this is somewhat true for Russian New Years (the city is literally littered with fake trees, some as high as ten meters), the merriness, smiles and ‘goodwill toward man’ attitude is definitely lacking.
“Elf” renewed my sense of the holidays and I woke up on Christmas morning in the dorms, ran down to Lindsey and Sara’s room, jumping on the beds and yelling about opening presents. While polite, I don’t think my friends took this incarnation of the Christmas spirit as well as expected, so I went to the nearby Internet café to spread my holiday joy per email. This was a daunting enough task and occupied me until late afternoon when Adam and I met Chris at his apartment.
We planned a grand Christmas dinner with over fifteen people on the guest list. The problem was, we expected to cook everything in a two-hour period. As a result, we decided to keep things simple and just cook Russian food. We bought borsch in a box, rotisserie hen off the street, lots of wine and made mashed potatoes (without gravy, which is simply Russian potato purée). The only American traditional dish was Adam’s acorn squash, prepared with butter, cinnamon and sugar; it was quite tasty. Adam and I bought all the necessary ingredients and got back to Chris’s house to find the Russian guests had already arrived! We were understandably taken aback; when are Russians early for anything? In addition, I was quite embarrassed to have to unpack the groceries in front of them (in particular the borsch in a box); they were however polite of course and even offered to help peel the potatoes (Andrei ended up helping me, even teaching me the one Russian Christmas/New Years carol – Yolichka v lesu rastyot: The Little Christmas Tree grows in the Forest).
The rest of the guests arrived and we had ourselves quite the international gathering: Russians, Americans, a Venezuelan, two Belgians, a Pole…there was even a Byelorussian in the mix! What, you may ask, could unite such a diverse group? Charades, of course!! It was quite a fun and spirited game; my personal triumph was guessing Butros Butros Gali.
Around 9:30, the guests made their exits so that Chris could put a wound-up Nikita (his son) to sleep. On the way home, I bought some Baltika 8s (my favorite Russian beer) and settled down in my warm bed to wait for the requisite Christmas calls from the States. After hearing from family and friends (even Indiana, from Vienna), I went to the kitchen for some friendly conversation with Tatiana Nikolaevna. Seeing my half-empty bottle on the table seemed to throw her off.
“Oh, you’re having some beer. Right out of the bottle even.” I was confused at this comment as there aren’t any beer steins in the house and in general, I rather enjoy drinking out of glass bottles. Disregarding this comment, I began a conversation about the differences between Russian and American Christmas and New Years. As I mentioned before, New Years is the family holiday in Russia, but Tatiana cleared this up for me, explaining that this doesn’t necessarily mean that a single family sits at home all by themselves. Usually one family will invite others over as guests and everyone will celebrate together; the most important is that New Years is spent at a home, as opposed to in a restaurant or club.
I also asked Tatiana if Russians made New Years resolutions (a hard task as I don’t know the word for ‘resolution’ and had forgotten how to say ‘promise’). She corrected me, and said, “No, of course not, that’s stupid. Why would you make a promise you’re not going to keep anyway?”
Her response pleased me, as this is how I generally feel about New Years resolutions. She went on to describe a similar tradition when Russians make New Years wishes. At the stroke of midnight, you’re supposed to quickly write down a one or two word wish (‘love, happiness, mother’s health, etc.’ obviously thought of in advance) on a thin piece of paper (preferably unrolled cigarette paper) with a pencil, burn this wish with a match or candle (lighters are too unnatural) and drop the ashes into a shot of champagne. Before the clock tolls the twelfth hour, you should drink this mixture, and your wish will come true. Of course one is not allowed to share this wish with anyone. I have to admit, I really like this tradition. It’s non-committal and sounds like fun to do. Lindsey and I have resolved to do it this New Years, and I encourage one and all to try it out.
There’s still a couple days left until the official end of the Holiday Season (New Years), and I’d like to wish you all a (late) Merry Christmas and best wishes for joy, happiness and good times in the New Year.

posted by Misha Molodoi @ 11:18 AM