Spring is here!

Last week was the 8th of March, Women's Day. This is a huge holiday, one of the biggest I've seen so far. We went to school the Saturday before so that Monday as well as Tuesday would be a free day. My pupils brought me flowers, chocolates, cards. They put on a small concert for the teachers, with singing and dancing. The party that followed was for teachers only; everyone--except me--brought a dish, and there was an enormous amount of food. (Next year I'll be prepared.)

Women's Day is apparently a big international holiday--who knew? When I say we don't have Women's Day in America, just Mother's Day, people are astonished. They look at me with faces that clearly say, How can you live without Women's Day?

My host mother and I spent a good part of Tuesday cooking dinner--though of course Grandmother and my host mother's sister also brought dishes. Towards the end of the day my host mom said to me, "Usually the men should do all this, to congratulate us, but since we have no men...." But that seems to be the general Ukrainian way--so many households without men.

The dinner we made was the greenest I'd seen in a while--because March First is officially Spring (at least it is in Ukraine), we celebrated with such luxuries as green onion, parsley, and lettuce garnishes. And I don't know where they came from, but there were pussywillows in a vase in the hallway.

Joy! Spring is coming! I couldn't feel it last week (in fact, the day after Women's Day brought a small snow storm), but today it is definitely here. Warm and fresh, with buds on the trees, and green peaking from the soil. It's wonderful, fabulous, delicious.

I long for warm weather, for summer. I lust after fresh fruits and vegetables, dream about cooking for myself.

But mostly I dream about summer clothes. I have two shirts and two skirts I can start wearing once the weather turns a bit warmer. This will nearly double my wardrobe.

I am so sick of my clothes.

I have one pair of black pants and once black skirt I can wear to school. I also have one light blue and one olive green sweater; this is what I wear every day. I have 3 or 4 t-shirts and blouses I can wear under the sweaters, and a pair of (tight) jeans for when I'm not working, but that's about it. It's excruciatingly boring.

You may be thinking that I must have less than my neighbors, but really I don't. Nobody here has a lot of clothes; it's perfectly normal to see people wear the same thing almost every day. That's probably why people take such good care of their clothes, changing as soon as they get home, brushing any dirt off their pants, obsessively cleaning their shoes. I am such a slob in comparison. I indifferently fold up my pants, don't iron all my shirts, and sometimes I even go outside without makeup! I'm a barbarian.

One thing I like about the Ukrainian soaps is how they're realistic about clothes. Take "Healing Love," whose confusing mess of relationships I wrote a bit about in my last entry. They wear the same clothes all the time in that show. Even the rich fiance-leaving princess seems to have a set number of outfits. The same clothes pop up all the time, and I'm always a little thrilled when something new appears. Is that a new dress Masha's wearing? I don't think I've seen that before! Cool! I wonder where she got the money?

American shows are so unrealistic. Even supposedly struggling families seem to have bottomless closets. You never see them wear the same thing twice.

But now it's Spring! Another couple of weeks and I'll be able to wear my blue skirt! Another month and I can add the lime-green knit top! Soon it'll be summer and I can wear sandals! And all the while I'll be eating salads, fruit, vegetables....mmmmm. It's beyond exciting.