I promised myself not to say anything, but Dasha slipped a $5 into my jeans before leaving. I guess I have to wear spandex now.
But seriously, I did make $1 last night after I left. Woot woot.
Izzie wrote:Just to say you guys look like your evening was one to remember.
It was. It's hard to imagine more wonderful hostesses than Dagmaraka and LittleK.
PLUS they're the only people I've met in America so far who make Cole Slaw the right way, which is without mayonnaise.
Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:I promised myself not to say anything, but Dasha slipped a $5 into my jeans before leaving. I guess I have to wear spandex now.
That alone will be worth the trip from New Jersey.
Yes, I slipped $5 in Slappy's jeans. I didn't want to hand it to him, as I don't know where his hands have been. It was to help him leave.
Dasha's stories of the traditional Slovakian Easter customs of her youth, which apparently really do involve birch switches and waterboarding, were getting Slappy visibly aroused, so we had to give him a prolonged timeout in the corner.
And for the last couple months I'd been thinking Thomas's avatar looked a lot like Joe McCarthy smiling--if he ever smiled. Turns out it's actually Douglas Adams--good choice, Thomas.
It seems like you folks had as much fun as we did...
Region Philbis wrote:another utterance from last night --
the thing about rugby is, sometimes the knees go the wrong way...
You have to see the hand gestures to go with that quote.
Hey, I can't seem to find my sub-lettors, did someone borrow them?
i think it's that sunday off thing....ever since they joined the damned union, things have not been the same.
Glad you Easterners were able to party hard, but I doubt it could have been too much better than our late night desert talks...(good tunes as well)
A2K is a pretty cool place.
RH
Screech and I now have a special bond. He lets me sit on a chair every now and then. I feel so honored.
Ah yes, the midget leg warmer sublettors!
dagmaraka wrote:i think it's that sunday off thing....ever since they joined the damned union, things have not been the same.
Spoken like a true American.
Oooooh, Thomas, them's fightin' words!
jespah wrote:Screech and I now have a special bond. He lets me sit on a chair every now and then. I feel so honored.
Ah yes, the midget leg warmer sublettors!
Wait! My cat is a midget leg warmer and he doesn't take sundays off.
So I was telling these guys about the Slovak Easter.
On Easter Monday, hordes of young men gang up and go house to house to visit young maidens. They don't go empty-handed, no. They wield willow plaited whips and buckets of water and perfume. When they descend upon a house, they drag the girls out, pour buckets of water over them, stink them up with cheap perfume and whip them blue. Heaps of fun........for men. In return, they get all sorts of food, liquor, even money, each girl ties a ribbon on their plait (the whip) and gives each man a decorated easter egg (with wax, dyes, copper wire, wool...etc., ).
Here's a little demonstration, though these guys are light on whips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtERsM5h1Tk
Interesting. In our neck of the woods, we collect Easter eggs on Sunday
and eat them all on Easter Monday. So we're busy too, you know.
What's the reasoning behind the water throwing and whipping ritual, dag?
Pure male showing off?
That's hilarious. Has it happened to you Dag?
I'm surprised the girls let it happen...
Sunday is the Flower Sunday.....girls get dressed up and go around the village singing songs, carrying Morena (winter) on a stick - they burn her and throw her to the river.
Monday is the brutality day. It happened to me many a times...why do you think I left the country? You end up in a bath tub, river, once I even ended up in a well! (not very deep, plus I fit in a bucket back then, or my behind did...). You also get attacked by random strangers on the street -- that happens when you think you can escape the brutality and leave the house for the day to go hiking or otherwise hide somewhere away from home....they find you, they always find you.
The stupidest idea me and my sister ever had was to escape to the village my mother is from. We thought we'll get away from all of our classmates, friends, acquantances in the city and wait it out in the village....... Oh boy. I have 3 uncles and 2 cousins there. We are the girls from the 'big city' and the whole village chased after us with joy. We were dragged into a local pub and drenched, sprayed, and whipped pretty much most of the day....
Everybody of course ends up plastered and sooner or later everybody ends up in a local pub, men and women, singing, dancing,throwing up and the like...
Girls get even on Tuesday....they attack the men...but that's a new thing and nowhere nearly as popular. Plus they get nothing in return.
The tradition is of course pagan....or whatever it is....simply not related to Christianity whatsoever. It's the passing of winter, new year - welcoming sprig, fertility (eggs, water), health (the willow plaits whipping), beauty (perfume), awaiting the next harvest season (feast)... The Christian easter was slapped on top of that artificially, probably to get people to abandon the pagan rites....but they are far more fun than the church rites....so they stick around to this day. It is fun, I must admit.
littlek wrote:Oooooh, Thomas, them's fightin' words!
I admit it was a cheap shot. I also admit I'm way too easily amused by the usage of the word "American" in a moral context. I mean, when was the last time Dasha said something like this to you? "Kris, that was
such an Un-Slovakian thing you just did. I
hate it!"
