holidays took some of the "giddy-up" out of my passion to write and connect with people back home. But now, I'm on break from work and the relatives are gone so I need you again! So here goes. I present:CHRISTMAS IN MEAT LAND
The Czechs LOVE Christmas in much the same way some groups of people (often men) collectively love spectator sports. What I mean is:
1) there is a lot of anticipation and excitement for something that is essentially the same every year,
2) it's a heck of a lot more fun to experience in groups that know the same cheers and songs,
3) somebody on the field is doing the real work (in this case Czech women...like, oh my Gaw, they make SO many, of like, THE greatest cookies EVER while the men do, like, . . . nothing?!),
4) it involves mind-blowing levels of alcohol consumption (ah, yes, now I remember: THAT's what we men do!).
The season, I mean, "preseason," starts on December 6 when kids are confronted by roving
costumed trios (one chain-rattling devil, one blonde angel, and one stoic Mikulas--that last would be the Czech name for Saint Nicholas) who dole out coal, potatoes, or candy as befits the recipient. To avoid the coal, kids must recite poetry or sing songs . . . it's pretty darn cute (and probably potentially terrifying, no? . . . ah, the spirit of Christmas!). There's not a huge separation of church and state here, so Sophie experienced Mikulas full throttle at school and was also visited here at home (sorry, no photo). As you probably know, a lot of other Europeans also celebrate St. Nick on December 6. The Devil and Angel companions aren't entirely unique to the Czech lands . . . personally, I think it is a big step up from Holland where St. Nick travels around with his black slave! But I really liked the tradition here; the roving costumed trios are vaguely holloweenesque (holloweenish? holloweeny?) .
While we are on the subject of the cozy relationship between church and state, Sophie's school put on a Christmas performance that would have made Pat Robertson proud (the final straw for me was a poems linking the red stripes in the candy cane to Jesus's sacrifice). But the children's performances were very cute and, in many cases, very very high quality. We had heard that Czech families take music instruction pretty seriously (we've seen the results in the four operas we've attended), but it great to see those kids dancing, playing their fipple flutes (recorders), and telling it on the mountain (in Czech)...even if it IS a public school.Like most Czech towns, Brno turned its main square into a Christmas market, the highlight of
which was a stage set up to showcase music from school choirs and folk groups. They also set up a Christmas village of vendors' stalls offering the usual crafts along with remarkable VOLUMES of strong drinks and mysterious dried meats. (Historical side note: in a set back to the potential of Central European cuisine, a Polish-Austrian-German army led by King of Poland Jan III Sobieski turned back the army of the Ottoman Empire at the gates of Vienna in 1683. Thus, there is nothing for Muslims to EAT in this country.)
Fortunately, for those on halal diets, Czechs are also QUITE serious about "cukrovy," which are these absolutely delicious tiny cookies (literally: "sweet things"). Good Czech wives and mothers take pride in making several KILOS of these beautiful cookies in many different shapes, colors, and flavors . . . and then swapping them with their friends and neighbors. The picture shows a fraction of the different styles we enjoyed. There is a quiet debate among "modern"
women about the proper response to this highly gendered and extraordinarily labor-intensive tradition. Betsy (and Sophie) jumped into the fray by donning their aprons to help one of Betsy's colleagues, who, taking one side of this debate, sees the task as a matter of choice. Other women take the route we did--before we realized that everyone would come to our house bearing cukrovy--order them from an emerging entrepreneurial class of housewives. Everyone agrees that the cookies MUST be "domacni" (homemade); that is, there is NO market for a corporate cookie provider! So I guess, the sweet sweat of women puts the cukr in cukrovy. (Look for an update on this issue in soon-to-be-published update of the Friedan classic "The Feminine Bisc-que")
Anyway, speaking of drinking while the women work, one of our best holiday experiences was visiting Betsy's distant Czech relatives with her dad and stepmother (these relatives are the siblings and descendants of Betsy's great grandmother!). The day after Bobbi and Jerry arrived, we took the train to Plzen, home of the famous beer. Despite the barriers of language, time, and history (WWI, WWII, and communism, good grief!) they were instant family: generous with their houses, food, and time . . . except they tried to get us much drunker than my family
ever has! (plum and apricot brandies made by a local collective, wine, and, of course, Pilsner Urquell). We even got to eat one or two of their rabbits! (Another side note: back in November we celebrated Thanksgiving with one of Betsy's colleagues and her American husband who live in a small Czech village near Prague. No, we didn't eat rabbit for Thanksgiving, but on the last day we heard an ice cream truck jingle, and looked out the window to see the local rabbit skin guy going through the neighborhood to buy the newly liberated hides...wow, totally medieval!)
When we got back to Brno, it was time to get serious about Christmas. Jerry and Bobbi helped us carry our tree home on the tram and prepare our Christmas feast: the MOST distinctive of the Czech holiday traditions, Christmas Carp. About five days before Christmas, fishmongers set up huge kiddie pools on street corners and market squares to sell carp, which, along with potato salad, is absolutely required on the Christmas Eve menu. Traditional
Czechs buy the fish live and keep it in their bath tubs until Christmas eve when they use a special mallet to send Mr. Fish to Carp Heaven. Somewhat less traditional Czechs (and certain hygiene-minded foreigners who might actually bathe once or twice before Christmas), ask the fish mongers to do the honors of lopping off the heads and tails.We celebrated Christmas three times: once, the Czech way, with a present from Jesiček (baby Jesus!) on Christmas eve, once on Christmas morning (with the help of globe trotting Santa
and the American postal service), and again when Betsy's mother (Melinda) and sister (Abby) came for a short visit.Sophie's favorite present was a baby rat, a gift from our rodentophilic neighbors who plan to
adopt her when we leave. Magdalena (aka "Maida," yes, as in "Maida Mouse") is turning into a most satisfying pet. Although still quite young, she comes when called and even helped me with this blog. (her contribution: dddddddddddddddddddddddddfffffff)One final sobering note: This posting has been almost exclusively about the holidays, or more specifically, Christmas, in the Czech
Republic. Receiving a nice secular "holiday" card from a Jewish friend back home reminded me of how homogeneous the culture is here. History has been particularly cruel in this part of Europe to any other religion's holidays (I am trying to avoid using the other "N-word" in a Christmas posting). So, given this cruel history it feels ironic, if not myopic, for there to be such a level of overt state endorsement of one religion. I know, I know . . . the political correctness we have in the US can be a little much; after all, Christmas IS a major holiday for a majority of Americans. But then again, there is something very hopeful (from an historical point of view) about Americans' passion for the separation between church and state. The tension between political correctness and shared public culture IS real but so are the consequences of marginalizing segments of your population.One final schmaltzy note: Although I am a lapsed Episcopalian, I still really like some of the
spiritual symbolism of Christmas, especially the renewal of hope and innocence as represented in the humble birth of a child (i.e., NOT the blood of sacrifice as represented in candy canes!! yuck!) The "goodwill of man" (and flour-covered women too) we felt this year was genuine, perhaps made more poignant by the distance from our American family and friends and their concerted efforts to either travel to be with us or send us packages and letters of love. I also feel grateful to have experienced first-hand another culture's take on a holiday that is usually so comfortably familiar. And last of all, the way in which we have been embraced by our newly found Czech friends and relatives really does give one faith in the potential of a universal family of humanity.
Sorry, one final, final thought: on Christmas Eve I was reading the Matthew and Luke Christmas stories to Sophie. In the middle of our conversation about the hopeful symbol of the innocent baby Jesus, Sophie suddenly became quiet and then said: "It makes me sad to think of all the bad people in the world and that they were once innocent babies too. Why does that happen?" Why indeed? So, here is your assignment: spread love and peace, be nice to children, and have a wonderful new year! And for gosh sakes, keeping sending your emails and packages!Stastne a vesele vanoce a stastny novy rok!
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