Celebrations in Armenia start on december 31st at midnight and lasts until January 13th (the old new year). For the days preceding the celebrations, almost all the women of the households are busy cooking, baking and cleaning the house, while the men are hunting for the best deals in food, meat, fruits, vodka and chocolates.
Ishli keofte, Khozi bud(roasted pork), dolmas and sweet sujukhs are a must for the Armenian New Year feast. Most people go overboard, taking loans from friends to buy all the food necessary for the week.
So at midnight everybody is gathered around the table, and once the countdown is done, the eating, dancing and endless kenats start, and vodka is poured like water. Then around 4-5 am january 1st, people go out visiting friends and families, eating again, drinking more, and greeting each others with hopes of a better year. And this ritual continues for almost a week.
So everything stops in Armenia from the 31st to the 13th; no bread, shops are closed as well as most of the restaurants.
This year, Raffi and I decided to stay home and relax with our 3 kids. We did lots of shopping for food on the 30th and rented a dozens of movies to watch. Most of our friends were out of town, visiting their families, so it has been very quite and slow, but i am enjoying it so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment