The best thing about falling in love is the surprise. You never know when or how it's going to happen; it just strikes, like a shock of static electricity when you touch a door knob on your way out of the bedroom.
I fell in love on the last night in Novgorod last Friday. We began the night doing a tour of a monastery. This was followed by a tour of a little wooden village that's best described as their version of Colonial Williamsburg. We were done touring it around 5:30 and had an hour until dinner. We played some children's games like Duck-Duck-Goose, Red Rover, and some Russian game where pairs of people stand in line and run around and quickly descend into chaos.
At 6:30 we were lead to a banquet hall opposite another banquet hall where a wedding was taking place (Cole got his picture taken with the Bride). We sat at a long table, more than twenty of us, and we ate like kings for the next two and a half hours.
From there we rode a bus from this place to some field of tall grasses. As we rode the sounds of music, strange singing, grew louder and louder. We were greeted by about ten girls, beautiful young girls with long dark hair and big dark eyes and sweet coy smiles serenading us the middle of the field. They gave us bread from a large round loaf. We tore off a piece and dipped it in salt.
The girls lead us down a path to a lake and we danced in a circle, occasionally partnering up and spinning and laughing with one of our classmates or one of the locals performing for us whose number had now swelled to about twenty and included four guys. One of our classmates said that in that moment when were dancing and singing he felt like he was a part of something so beautiful, so epic and incredible, and he became so overwhelmed with emotion that tears welled up in his eyes.
But there was no time for tears. The Games were starting. We played a game where men and women sat in alternating spots. A man with a belt walked up to the girl and asked "Are you in love with this man?" If the girl said yes she would have to kiss him. If she said no the man would beat the suitor sitting down until he ran to another girl. Then the guy that had been sitting there would have to run.
We played a game where four of the local guys locked arms and one of us American guys would have to leap with our hands behind our back into the center of them and kiss a girl on the other side. We played a game where we wore horse costumes and tried to steal ribbons from each other without losing our own. The Hat Game required two participants in large floppy hats to try to steal the hat off the other with one arm behind his back. There was a game where the men sat on a big wooden log and hit each other with sacks of sand to try to knock the other over.
After these games we were given soup and bread and were once again sang to by the girls. The song they sang here had a tragic sound. It was some kind of love song and it sounded like they were trying to sing a sad song in a happy voice.
Standing there, watching them sing this incredible song, drinking this soup, looking around at everyone laughing and smiling and having a good time, is when I fell in love. This place, these people, are so fun and friendly and beautiful and they were bringing us into this ritual, this annual event they have for each other that usually takes place on Saturday but they were putting on Friday especially for us. I felt like I was knee-deep in this culture, of this culture, and it was the best I've felt in a long time.
To close the festivities they light a big bonfire. Everyone jumps in the lake to cleanse themselves. They light little candles and put them in tiny boats. Each candle is a wish and when you put one in the lake you get to wish for something for the coming year. After swimming around the lake everyone takes turns jumping over the bonfire in pairs or in large groups, the fire now being little more than smoldering ash.
By the time it was all over it was near midnight. Everyone was exhausted but smiling uncontrollably. In that moment none of us wanted to leave Novgorod the next day or Russia in the next few weeks. In that moment we were truly in love with these people and this country.
-Alex Barrio
I fell in love on the last night in Novgorod last Friday. We began the night doing a tour of a monastery. This was followed by a tour of a little wooden village that's best described as their version of Colonial Williamsburg. We were done touring it around 5:30 and had an hour until dinner. We played some children's games like Duck-Duck-Goose, Red Rover, and some Russian game where pairs of people stand in line and run around and quickly descend into chaos.
At 6:30 we were lead to a banquet hall opposite another banquet hall where a wedding was taking place (Cole got his picture taken with the Bride). We sat at a long table, more than twenty of us, and we ate like kings for the next two and a half hours.
From there we rode a bus from this place to some field of tall grasses. As we rode the sounds of music, strange singing, grew louder and louder. We were greeted by about ten girls, beautiful young girls with long dark hair and big dark eyes and sweet coy smiles serenading us the middle of the field. They gave us bread from a large round loaf. We tore off a piece and dipped it in salt.
The girls lead us down a path to a lake and we danced in a circle, occasionally partnering up and spinning and laughing with one of our classmates or one of the locals performing for us whose number had now swelled to about twenty and included four guys. One of our classmates said that in that moment when were dancing and singing he felt like he was a part of something so beautiful, so epic and incredible, and he became so overwhelmed with emotion that tears welled up in his eyes.
But there was no time for tears. The Games were starting. We played a game where men and women sat in alternating spots. A man with a belt walked up to the girl and asked "Are you in love with this man?" If the girl said yes she would have to kiss him. If she said no the man would beat the suitor sitting down until he ran to another girl. Then the guy that had been sitting there would have to run.
We played a game where four of the local guys locked arms and one of us American guys would have to leap with our hands behind our back into the center of them and kiss a girl on the other side. We played a game where we wore horse costumes and tried to steal ribbons from each other without losing our own. The Hat Game required two participants in large floppy hats to try to steal the hat off the other with one arm behind his back. There was a game where the men sat on a big wooden log and hit each other with sacks of sand to try to knock the other over.
After these games we were given soup and bread and were once again sang to by the girls. The song they sang here had a tragic sound. It was some kind of love song and it sounded like they were trying to sing a sad song in a happy voice.
Standing there, watching them sing this incredible song, drinking this soup, looking around at everyone laughing and smiling and having a good time, is when I fell in love. This place, these people, are so fun and friendly and beautiful and they were bringing us into this ritual, this annual event they have for each other that usually takes place on Saturday but they were putting on Friday especially for us. I felt like I was knee-deep in this culture, of this culture, and it was the best I've felt in a long time.
To close the festivities they light a big bonfire. Everyone jumps in the lake to cleanse themselves. They light little candles and put them in tiny boats. Each candle is a wish and when you put one in the lake you get to wish for something for the coming year. After swimming around the lake everyone takes turns jumping over the bonfire in pairs or in large groups, the fire now being little more than smoldering ash.
By the time it was all over it was near midnight. Everyone was exhausted but smiling uncontrollably. In that moment none of us wanted to leave Novgorod the next day or Russia in the next few weeks. In that moment we were truly in love with these people and this country.
-Alex Barrio
