A ghostly time in Ukraine

I would like to make it very clear, I am not a person that is interested in Halloween. I never took part in any festivities and I think I have dressed up in a costume only 4 times in my 42 years. But Ukraine has changed me, I now reevaluate  everything I have taken for granted in America. Halloween was one of them.

Last year when John told me that he and a colleague were planning on having a party in their office for this holiday I thought they were silly and to be honest, I told them I would help but wasn’t all that enthusiastic about it. That was until I noticed how many kids showed up because they were craving this holiday that doesn’t exist in Ukraine. John has a tiny office and kids were bursting the seems of it, we all could barely fit.

But this is what really made me quickly get interested in this holiday. After talking with several adults in town I realized there was a huge misconception of Halloween. People in Ukraine are very religious and thought Halloween was associated with religion. Many adults do not condone this holiday and priests even announce to its parish not to partake in activities concerning this holiday.  I had to explain to many people that it originated that way but today, it is a commercial holiday that has nothing to do with religion but rather,  a social activity for kids and adults. I wanted to try to debunk this myth.

I decided I wanted to have a bigger and better Halloween party this year for the kids in Yaremche. I knew John would be in Kyiv so I enlisted his colleague, Nastia again to help me. First on my list was a larger venue. It just so happens she also works at the museum and told me we could have the event there. Pumpkin pies are not a thing here, I decided I would bake pumpkin pies and have a pumpkin carving station. Games, we had to have games. Bobbing for apples are a staple in America, Nastia felt the kids would not participate in this activity because kids would not want to ruin their make up. However, I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, I knew I would not be doing my job if I did not share my culture with these kids, I also planned to have the game Jenga as a back up! I thought we could have a craft station and end the evening with the movie “Night at the museum”. I even put the word out to other volunteers asking if someone would like to attend to help me make this more of a culture event.

After carefully organizing, I found a volunteer from a different oblast to attend the party, a store in Kyiv that sold some Halloween decorations to decorate, a large pumpkin to bake pies, apples from my counterpart’s, Maryana tree for “bobbing for apples”, candy to be donated by the English school in town and Johns work lent us their screen and projector to watch the film. I was ready!

It took me two days to bake my pies, I was missing the pilsbury dough boy and was absolutely exhausted from the process.

At 5:00 sharp a large group of kids and some adults showed up. I was immediately was bombarded with a ton of questions and was running around like a mad woman. What I realized was that in America kids just automatically know what to do at a holiday party like Halloween. This time, I had to guide the kids and show them what to do. Of course, the night didn’t go exactly as I planned. Nastia was right and no kids participated in the game “bobbing for apples” but Jenga was a hit, the craft section got off to a slow start, kids didn’t just in and help themselves to the candy but rather I had to keep offering it them and the speakers for the movie didn’t quite work so the film was hard to hear. But all in all, it was a smashing success.

Between my English club for adults where we discussed this holiday and the party at the museum I truly hope I helped change some people’s thoughts about Halloween. I know that I have changed mine, this is defiantly a day I took for granted. In the future I dress up, decorate my house, carve pumpkins and partake in any way I can. We must enjoy the things that bring “fun” into our lives!

This blog expresses my own thoughts and opinions and in no way reflects the Peace Corps or the American government as a whole.