Jolly Old Saint Nikola

Last night we went to our first slava. This is one of my favorite Serbian traditions; every family has a special day to honor a saint and on that day they celebrate by eating A LOT and hanging out with each other. The first night of the slava, the actual day of the saint, is reserved for immediate family. The second day is a chance to invite over extended family and friends. It's also a chance to skip out on work - when a really popular slava comes around, whole businesses close because everyone has the day off.

Vladimir, our friend and trusty language instructor, invited us to day two of his family's slava, honoring St. Nikola. The food was fantastic and it was our first chance to really appreciate home made Serbian cooking (his mom did most of the cooking, and she stayed in the kitchen the whole time we were there). My biggest mistake was not realizing how many courses there were going to be, so I loaded up on the first round. We had:

1. Pickled peppers, pickles, bread, ajvar, and a salad of tuna, peppers, cabbage, and carrots
2. Special Serbian beans, stuffed cabbage (wohoo!), more pickled peppers, pickles, and bread
3. Two enormous trays of smoked fish - scrumptious, but I could only eat one piece after I had pigged out on the salad
4. Dessert - pastries - yum
   

Of course, there were wine and sljivovica flowing throughout the evening, and enough people spoke English so we had great conversation. We didn't actually do anything to honor St. Nikola (maybe that happens on the first evening?) but we did get a chance to ask some of our buring questions about Serbia in a relaxed setting.

Vladimir's role was to act as our waiter for the night - as host of the slava, he's responsible for taking care of all our needs. His friends would routinely give him a hard time if they were out of drink. In fact, it's traditional for the host to stand the entire time, which Vladimir did right up until people started leaving (around 1 AM). It was a fantastic evening, and a unique glimpse into real Serbian life.

Dan heard a story about a German guy who decided he wanted to become Serbian. He converted to the Orthodox Church, was baptised, and then had to pick a slava. When he asked the priest for advice, the priest recommended St. John, because there's a St. John's day every month. Dan told this joke at dinner last night, and everyone cracked up at the idea of picking a slava.

Because it's also holiday time for us, we fly home this Friday. I'll return to blogger-land some time after the new year. Merry Christmas!