Things have
been extra quiet in my apartment building these past few days. Yesterday a baba (old lady) told me why. A Daduska (old man) had died in our building. Actually he lived in the apartment right below
me and for the last three days his body has been lying in the apartment. It is custom for the body to remain in the apartment
until the funeral; which is usually a open-casket and held at the house.
…So, my day
started normal, this morning I went to the bazaar since its 'big bazaar Thursday'. On my way to my
Russian lesson I decided to take all my fruits and veggies home. I turned the corner to see a big group of
people standing around the entrance door of the building. The apartments are small so I figured people
were just shuffling through the apartment, paying their respects and then
gathering outside. When I got closer I
saw that the Daduska was lying outside in his casket. I freaked
out a little and had no idea what to do, and you can bet that all of the Ukrainians
were watching the American. This country is full of superstitions and interesting/unique/sometimes
strange traditions. All I knew about
funerals is that you need to buy an even number of flowers…I didn’t want to do
something offensive so, I quietly passed people and walked upstairs to my
apartment.
I called my
tutor to ask what to do. She said that it is not polite to say ‘hello’ during a
Ukrainian funeral and that I should just walk out quietly. So, with that in-mind I walked outside and was
grabbed by some babushkas that I talk to daily. We stood there for a long time watching the wife
of the Daduska (I don’t know his name) cry, talk and pray over the body. Then the wife and another family member got
into a fight. The Babukas that I was
talking to rolled their eyes and we started to talk about the price of gas.
Even though
I have been in Ukraine
for 8 months I still get random culture shock moments. Today was one of them. I never imaged to be standing outside my
apartment at my first open casket funeral talking about the increase in gas
prices. Ukraine
still amazes me.
After
spending another 15 minutes standing with everyone the Babuskas sent me on my way. By the time I back for lunch, everyone was
gone and the body had been moved.
Life is
short. Better make the most of it.
