Day Eight - Village People
Today had us driving to the quaint village of Tichy Potok which means quiet stream. I've known Lubica Dzuganova Zdraveckova since about 2005. She's been the mayor there for 24 years. Lubica formed a folk group that performs skits about Rusyn life along with singing and dancing. It is usually the highlight of the trip and that remained so this time as well.
After taking a wrong turn on an unmarked road under construction we arrived a little late. The detour took us along a beautiful route however. It's too bad the day was damp, rainy and cold as the colors are just about at their peak here in Eastern Slovakia and the sun shining on them would have made them glorious!
We were greeted by Lubica and her husband Igor upon our arrival and she promptly began converting our trip participants into "village people" by dressing them up in the village kroje. These are costumes that are particular to their village as every village has their own kroje and varies from village to village. The kroje found in Tichy Potok are exceptionally beautiful.
After dressing them up we were taken across the street to an old wooden house which serves as the village museum. The women of the village weave rugs and other domestic items which are then sold in this museum to benefit the village. A few of us even had the chance to sit at a loom and weave a few rows of a current project. When we came out of the house, all of our pockets were a little bit lighter!
We were then treated to a wonderful meal of homemade chicken soup, particularly welcome on this cold, wet day, chicken, potatoes and vegetables along with kolace and a chocolate dessert. Oh, did I mention the shots of Hruskovica (pear brandy)...multiple shots that is...except for the drivers.
Afterwards the folk group entertained us with a skit about the village women preparing a dowry for a young woman about to become married. It was accompanied by the beautiful singing of folk songs accompanied by an accordionist who also happened to know one English song...Old MacDonald which we happily sang along to. They invited us all up to dance afterwards and at the end they serenaded us with Mnogaja Lita and we returned the favor. They said no one had ever sung to them before!
I was fortunate to meet up once again with our exchange student's mother, Marta Tomalova. It is always wonderful to see her and her beautiful family!
Lubica then showed us the Greek Catholic church in the village after which we said our thank you's and goodbyes and headed back "home." We went straight to Vespers at the Orthodox church in Becherov after which we were invited to the priest's house for a light reception and visits with his wife and daughters. It's been fun to watch the girls grow up over the years!
Next was a visit to my cousin Stefan Fedorko's house. He is my second cousin on my mother's father's side. But I am also related to his wife. Needless to say, if you are from one of our villages you are most likely related to just about everyone here if you go back far enough! Walt discovered relationships on his side of the family to Luba as well.
A quick stop at the karcma to visit Slavo once again and now we are back at the pension...and the heat has been turned on! It's cold here....and we are hearing it's cold back home as well.
Tomorrow we will all be visiting our ancestors churches, more visits to the villages, walking in our ancestor's footsteps and exploring more cemeteries. Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative!
Until then...
After taking a wrong turn on an unmarked road under construction we arrived a little late. The detour took us along a beautiful route however. It's too bad the day was damp, rainy and cold as the colors are just about at their peak here in Eastern Slovakia and the sun shining on them would have made them glorious!
We were greeted by Lubica and her husband Igor upon our arrival and she promptly began converting our trip participants into "village people" by dressing them up in the village kroje. These are costumes that are particular to their village as every village has their own kroje and varies from village to village. The kroje found in Tichy Potok are exceptionally beautiful.
After dressing them up we were taken across the street to an old wooden house which serves as the village museum. The women of the village weave rugs and other domestic items which are then sold in this museum to benefit the village. A few of us even had the chance to sit at a loom and weave a few rows of a current project. When we came out of the house, all of our pockets were a little bit lighter!
We were then treated to a wonderful meal of homemade chicken soup, particularly welcome on this cold, wet day, chicken, potatoes and vegetables along with kolace and a chocolate dessert. Oh, did I mention the shots of Hruskovica (pear brandy)...multiple shots that is...except for the drivers.
Afterwards the folk group entertained us with a skit about the village women preparing a dowry for a young woman about to become married. It was accompanied by the beautiful singing of folk songs accompanied by an accordionist who also happened to know one English song...Old MacDonald which we happily sang along to. They invited us all up to dance afterwards and at the end they serenaded us with Mnogaja Lita and we returned the favor. They said no one had ever sung to them before!
I was fortunate to meet up once again with our exchange student's mother, Marta Tomalova. It is always wonderful to see her and her beautiful family!
Lubica then showed us the Greek Catholic church in the village after which we said our thank you's and goodbyes and headed back "home." We went straight to Vespers at the Orthodox church in Becherov after which we were invited to the priest's house for a light reception and visits with his wife and daughters. It's been fun to watch the girls grow up over the years!
Next was a visit to my cousin Stefan Fedorko's house. He is my second cousin on my mother's father's side. But I am also related to his wife. Needless to say, if you are from one of our villages you are most likely related to just about everyone here if you go back far enough! Walt discovered relationships on his side of the family to Luba as well.
A quick stop at the karcma to visit Slavo once again and now we are back at the pension...and the heat has been turned on! It's cold here....and we are hearing it's cold back home as well.
Tomorrow we will all be visiting our ancestors churches, more visits to the villages, walking in our ancestor's footsteps and exploring more cemeteries. Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative!
Until then...
A great experience!
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