I wish you a Merry Catholic Christmas, I wish you a Merry Catholic Christmas, I wish you a Merry Catholic Christmas, and a Happy New Year! As most Belarusians are Orthodox, December 25th isn't that big a deal. All but one of my friends are Orthodox so they don't do anything special for Catholic Christmas. However, there is a large Catholic population here, as Belarus used to belong to Poland, so everyone gets December 24-25 off work. My supervisor, Lyudmila Milhailovna, was kind enough to invite me to her flat and she prepared a wonderful dinner just for me. I spent Christmas Eve with Cbeta and Nadia and we had a great time playing with two Santa hats, sparkles, and some other decorations. We also visited the New Year's Trees that are located in Lenin Square and Soviet Square.By far, New Year's Eve is the biggest holiday here. Father Frost comes and brings gifts with the help of his granddaughter, Snegurochka (Snow Maiden). I'm very excited because I will spend December 31st with Cbeta and her family, so I'll get to experience a real Belarusian-style holiday! I'll tell you more about the traditions next week...
Orthodox Christmas is on January 7. But like Catholic Christmas, this day is only a big deal for the religious folks and many people simply enjoy having a day off. I finally learned why the dates are different, 13 days to be exact. The
Orthodox church still follows the Julian calendar for its holidays and the Catholic church uses the Gregorian calendar. This difference also means that the Old New Year falls on January 13, so they leave all the decorations up until mid-January when the holiday season is finally over. Overall it's kinda cool, they have two Christmases and two New Years. December 24-25, January 1-2, and January 7 are vacation days too. So basically the holidays are just getting started here! (Go to My Christmas under My Photos for a few more.)
