In Ukraine, this is Christmas weekend. Instead of December 25, they celebrate it in the week following New Year’s. I had no plans for the three-day weekend. I came home from work on Friday and prepared for a long night of watching television by myself. All was good. Then, around 8pm, my doorbell rang. Now, there are very few people who ever ring my bell without letting me know they are coming (electric meter reader, internet money collector, etc.). So, at 8pm on the Friday night of a holiday weekend, I don’t know who could be there. I may have mentioned that I live on the fourth floor of my building with no lights in the stairwell/hallway. With that said, you need a flashlight to get to my front door and you don’t just happen by, you actually have to make an effort to get here. When the bell rang, I asked who was there (Кто там?) and heard a few young sounding voices. I didn’t recognize them, but did not feel threatened and figured the moment I told them I don’t speak Russian well, they would leave. I opened the door to see three young girls who asked me something I didn’t understand. At first I thought they were trying to sell me something, but didn’t have anything to offer. Then my mind went to something like Halloween- was this a night where children come by to ask for candy, and my friends failed to tell me to get ready? Then, one of them pulled some money out of her pocket. Was she asking me to give her cash? Really, I was running out of things to say to them. Once in a while, one of them would say a few words in English, but it wasn’t enough to bridge the communication gap. I thought they would give up and go away, but it took a lot longer than I thought. I finally suggested maybe they could knock on a neighbor’s door and I could see what they were after. They did, and moments later I understood that they were asking if we wanted a recitation of a Christmas poem. Not exactly a song, but the same idea as caroling. The kids recited a poem for the neighbors and I quickly tried to figure out what I missed during our meeting at my door. When they were done, I said that now I understood what they were asking me and now I wanted them to come back to my door and recite the poem for me- however, I quickly ran and got my video camera and taped the performance. It was a nice little surprise, and I gave them some money for their efforts. They seemed as appreciative of my gift as I was of theirs. С Рождеством (Merry Christmas) and I hope they come back next year.
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