Women's Day - 1999, 2000

Here are two descriptions of one of the biggest holidays of the year in Russia -- International Women's Day.

Happy Women's Day!
March 8, 1999

Today is one of the biggest holidays of the year in Russia -- International Women's Day. The celebrating started Friday with office parties, since March 8th this year is on Monday, and the holiday is always celebrated with a day off from work. It's a requirement that if you're female, you receive a box of chocolates from someone, and a bouquet or two of flowers, among other presents.

We had a small party with Slava's son's family and a widow who lives across the hall from us. Our guests were invited for tea, which can mean almost anything, In this case I served a quiche, homemade pickles (a gift from Dima's wife), assorted fresh fruits, chocolates, and some good cognac along with tea. Little Nikita insisted on microwave popcorn, because it's something he can only get at our place.



March 8, 2000

We're having a heat wave here, and it's causing havoc. In the daytime the temperature is consistently above 40 degrees, although it does cool off at night. We don't know if winter will return, or if these spring-like conditions will continue.

Sidewalks are never salted here, and they are only only occasionally shoveled, so layers of snow slowly build up into layers of ice under the pressure of pedestrian traffic. When the weather starts to warm up, the ice melts reluctantly, a millimeter at a time. The icy sidewalks are now covered with a slipperly layer of water that re-freezes smooth at night.

I've fallen only a few times. My bones have been tested by what we may call the School of Hard Knocks. I'm sure that many of the elderly here have good reason to fear a fall, yet they have to chance it to do their grocery shopping.

Our second problem is the temperature inside our apartment. We have district heating, with no individual control over the hot water supplied to our radiators. As far as I can tell, the central controls are set for the climate and not for the weather. In general the month of March is cold here, and so the heating system is cranked up high. The only relief we can get is by having windows open in every room.

Our third problem is with our walk-in freezer, or rather, our walk-out freezer -- we stored food on the balcony this winter. The balcony faces south and it's glassed in, so it does get warm once the temperature starts rising. Normally, though, things stay solidly frozen on the balcony through March. But not this year! Cycles of thawing and freezing turned my summer vegetables into mush. All the work that I had put into preserving them in the fall went to waste! There was also a very dead chicken that was recognizable only by the bones.

Enough of our troubles... Let me tell you about our celebrations. Today is one of the biggest holidays of the year in Russia: Women's Day. Since most offices and stores are closed on the 8th of March, this holiday is really a two-day affair, because office parties are held on the 7th. Every woman is constantly greeted with "poz-drav-LAH-yu" (congratulations) or "seh PRAZ-ni-kom: (holiday greetings). When greeted this way by a man, the proper response is a gracious "spa-CEE-ba" (thank you); when another woman greets you thus, you politely respond "vam TOZH-a" (to you, too).

When Slava came home from work last night he apologized for not having flowers for me. The line of men at the flower stand was too long, he said. Ever the one to put a cheerful face on things, he said that buying flowers one day later would make them last one day longer.

To be honored on Women's Day you don't have to be a lover or a mother or a secretary. You just have to be female, over a certain age. I'm not sure exactly what that age is; I just know that I'm over it. I was given a box of chocolates at the university, and at Slava's office all the women were given small artworks of amber. At midnight Slava gave me a bottle of perfume. And today there are two parties -- a family one, at Dima's, and a birthday party at my friend Irina's. Yesterday was Irina's 50th birthday, and for this jubilee occasion she's having 16 people over. I've never been to an at-home party here with so many people, so this will be unusual.

Let me close with a Women's Day greeting I just got by e-mail from a friend in Moscow. His name is Michael Chukhaev, and he is a former private pupil of mine. He left Ekaterinburg before I got his English polished up, but it's good enough that you will be able to see that he has a warm heart.

Dear Shirley!
Let me congratulate you with Russian female holiday!
(I know that there is not such holiday 8th March in US but you live in Russia for enough long time and I think you take our traditions)
At first I wish you great health because without it there is not love, friendship and happiness.
Then I wish you love relatives and other people love you also.
And I think that is enough for satisfied life.
I am sorry if I did not mention something very important from your point of view.
Good evening that day and injoy yourself.
Best regards, Mikhail

And best regards to you, too.