Being from Canada Laurie and I just assumed that the wedding ceremony would take place in a church building. Oh, how naive of us. We had forgotten that Ukraine had once been a communist society and religion was seen as negative. Back then, marriage was purely a legal arrangement performed through the government and that history still plays a part in weddings today. So, all weddings legally performed in the Ukraine are still done through the registration office. This might not sound all that great but the office building is in nice shape and even decorated with stained glass and such. The ceremony itself was simple and pleasant. Of course we didn't know what the lady was saying but the ceremony had two interesting traditions. One was for the newlyweds to toast to one another with their arms intertwined. And the other tradition was to step on a beautiful cloth that would be a family memoir. Traditional says that whoever steps on the cloth first will become the leader of the family.
Another fun wedding tradition played out before the wedding. Prior to the ceremony everyone met up at the bride's place where she hid from her groom. All the doors in the apartment were closed. Then the groom has to search for his bride. For every room he opens without finding her, he has to pay a fee of 20 greevna. Dema, Larissa's hubby found her on his second look so he had a minimal fee.
After the ceremony the wedding party went around the town to take pictures. We were told that traditionally wedding parties go to parks and monuments to toast in memory of the monuments. We were not part of the wedding party so we went to get a bite to eat and walked around until the reception. The reception was quite nice. It was done at a restaurant that I think does wedding receptions frequently. There was a live band and a MC that was provided by the restaurant. It was all good with lots of food, drinks and wedding games. The funniest part was when all the guys and gals were put on opposite parts of the restaurant and than had a dance competition that was directed by the MC. The MC would holler out a body part and everyone had to dance making sure to use that particular body part. The group that got most into it was the winners. The boys definitely won that competition. Similar to receptions in Canada there was much dancing, eating and visiting. Vova, Lena, Laurie and I left a little early. As the reception went on it became a dance celebration and we were not into that so we said our congratulations and goodbyes.
Back in Donetsk we hung out with Vova and Lena some more. They are leaving next month to a new town to work in an orphanage so we are taking time to enjoy their companionship. Yesterday was Miner's Day. It is a huge celebration here in Donetsk but I'm not sure if it is celebrated in other provinces. I was surprised that this Miner's day was a bigger celebration than independence day which took place last week. But coal mining has been the livelihood of many here in the Donbass province so I can imagine how it can be viewed as more important.
Laurie and I walked around with Vova to see the city's festivities. Scherbakova Park was crazy busy. Look at the bridge in this picture and you can just see the multitudes. We strolled around looking at people and flowers. There was a stage there and when we arrived there was some traditional music being performed. Then out of no where this grandma and grandpa start dancing...it was quite cute. Vova wasn't feeling too great so he went home but Laurie and I were curious to what was going on in the city center. Again it was crazy busy there but we hung around for a bit to watch a rock band perform. It was very loud and crowded though so we decided to head home before it got too late.
This week we are continuing to take a few classes at UBI. I need to prepare a message for this Sunday and we need to prepare for Saturday's English class. We are also planning to do another English ministry in Mariupol next weekend and need to prepare for that as well. Mariupol is a fairly large city about 2 hours south of Donetsk. So with having guest over as well we are keeping ourselves busy. Not to mention my nagging assignments that I just can't seem to finish off.
We are also feeling better this week. Our energy is returning and we are feeling healthier, Slava Bogu!
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