Slaavix

The Star

The Russian Orthodox celebrate Christmas on January 7-9. That's because by the time they adopted the Gregorian calendar, there was a difference of 13 days between that and the Julian calendar. The Russian Orthodox church in Alaska has a unique custom called Slaavix or Starring. On each of the three nights of the Christmas festival, the people walk through the village holding a big decorated star. They go to each house where they've been invited and sing carols. Some are in English, some in Church Slavonic, and I think one or two may have been in Unangam. One of the altar boys holds and spins the star during the singing. The last song offers a blessing to the people in the home: "May God grant you many years!" Then the host offers the singers some light refreshment. People stay and talk (and warm up) for a half hour to an hour before going to the next house. On the final night of the Slaavix, the procession ends at the church.

I joined the Slaavix on Friday night. There were song books with the words, but no music notation. I wasn't able to join in singing the transliterated Slavonic and Unangam songs because it was too hard to try to catch the melody and decipher the words at the same time. However, I caught on to the ones in English after singing them a couple of times. I was given one of the song books, and I recorded the music, so I'm hoping some time before next Christmas I can find or create the written music for the songs.

While we were visiting at one home, one of my students handed me a fluffy brown puppy. I was cuddling her and commented that I was looking for a little girl puppy. The hostess heard me and said, "Take her! She's yours!" I was surprised and asked if she was sure. She said, "Merry Christmas!" So I now have a puppy! One of the women standing near me said her son (also a student of mine!) had wanted her to get a dog and name it Kartufala (potato). The pup does bear a striking resemblance to a fluffy potato, so I took the name. She's Tufa for short.

Kartufala

I haven't had a puppy since Beowolf. That was 18 years ago! I'm having to relearn how much work puppies are, but also how sweet and cute they are. She's having to learn everything, from eating dry dog food out of a bowl to walking up and down steps. She's figured out a way to climb onto the sofa without help. She knows that she's supposed to "potty" when she goes outside, but she doesn't understand yet that she's *only* supposed to potty outside. It'll take a couple of months for that, since it's also a matter of getting control of her little body.

Shadow finally meets a dog that is smaller than he is!

Cody and Tufa

After I understood what the whole Starring thing was about, I added my name to those who were being visited on Saturday night. I made a big pot of beef vegetable soup, a cheese spread, and a loaf of sourdough bread. When 30 people came into my house and started singing, it made me very happy. There was so much warmth that these people carried with them. The custom is a lot like going caroling, except done inside because Alaska, and with a much stronger religious orientation. The dogs behaved well for having that many people in their home. Tufa hid first in her crate and then behind the tree. Shadow greeted everyone, mostly to let them know that he was there to help if they had any food they didn't want to eat. Cody left his hiding place on the bed in my office and worked his way through the room until he was near me, guarding me from all the strangers.

It was a lovely way to end my winter break. We return to school on January 11. I'm rested and ready!