Baptism under fire

Last weekend was a long freaking weekend with one misunderstanding after another.

The weekend started off fine with me catching up with some of the news online. Next thing I know Demiko comes in and says that we need to be at his cousins by ten. Why? For what? He says something that I do not understand. Ok. Well, guess I should get dressed.

Demiko and I walk to the marshutka stand with Rostom and Rostom talks someone into giving us a ride instead of waiting for the marshutka. Now I am thinking that we are going to meet with Rostom’s cousin who we have hung out with a few times. But then the car stops well short of the town. Actually, we stop right next to the road that goes to the supra place next to the river. Oh god. Please, no.

Demiko and I get out while Rostom keeps going, presumably to work. We start walking and Demiko turns left into a home instead of going down the supra road. Alright. I follow and am greeted by about 10-15 people. Turns out that it is Nana’s mom’s house. The place were she grew up. Ok, so I had the wrong side of the family.

I am introduced to her mom and some of her sisters, cousins, etc. Under the house is a long room that has lots of tables put together and place settings for a lot of people. Probably around 100 or so.

I ask Demiko what is going on and I think I hear him say something about a celebration for 16 year old girl and something about church. Maybe a confirmation. I get the impression that the food is being prepared for the festivities but we will be going to the church soon. I guess that explains why Demiko is dressed nicely. Too bad I am not. Jeans and a button-up t-shirt that is not tucked in. Heck, I had not shaved in five days nor showered for about three. Good thing my hat can fit in my back pocket. Well, crap.

So we wait around for a while and I meet people as they come and go. Finally, the ladies start getting dressed nicely and I am getting the sense that we are leaving soon. We all get into three cars and make our way to the church. Apparently the driver in my car does not like to take it slow and went as fast as he could. 100km in a 50km zone – no prob. I was siting in the front seat and found it best just to look out the side window so I do not freak out.

We get to the church, in record time, and wait. It is always hurry up and then wait. I had my camera on me and Demiko took it to take pictures of the family. I was pulled into them, as you will see below with the pictures of the wood houses or in the grass.

We eventually make our way up to the church and I take a walk around. Each family seems to have a plot of land with a fence of some kind around it. Then there are older looking coffins of cement that are just lying around the grounds. Some buried in grass and moss, others right off of the sidewalk of the church. Very interesting.

I find a bench on one end of the hill that over looks part of a valley and is covered by trees with a nice breeze blowing through. I sit down and enjoy the sun going through the trees and the breeze. I close my eyes and try to focus on happy thoughts. Why? Well because my allergies were acting up this day which had resulted in a runny noise and a pressure headache. Also, I was just trying to enjoy a little peace and quiet.

Demiko eventually comes and gets me and tells me the service is about to start. We go inside and it turns out that I was completely wrong. Not a confirmation for a 16-year old girl. Instead it is a baptism for a boy of about 5 or 6. I was not even close.

In addition to the boy, there were two others getting baptized. A baby less than a couple months old and another kid around one year old. This last kid was not happy and was in a state of hysterics. I thought it made the ceremony more memorable.

I watch the service and see the kids get baptized. My noise is starting to go crazy and it is hot in the little church, so I go back outside to my bench. No one around so I sit back, put my arms up on the back and close my eyes. Focus on my happy thought of the day and completely zone out.

Now there were people outside the church that were either smoking or apparently did not feel compelled to go in and watch the service so my brain was aware of voices. Then at some point I realize that all of the voices are gone. I open my eyes and realize that I do not see anyone. Not around the church or down below in the grass. Oh crap.

They wouldn’t have left me would they? Could they? I get up and walk back towards the church and am able to see through the doors that the service is still going on. Whew! I go back to my bench and sit back down.

A few minutes later I am joined by some of the little cousins, including the one that got baptized. He starts poking my hand and I open it to give him a hi-five. He does not understand and instead grabs my hand. Ok. I zone out again and he starts poking my hand again. I open my hand again and this time move it a little to him. This time he gets it and slaps my hand. I then do the down low. Up high. To the side. I have now made a new friend. Some of the other cousins join in and I eventually zone out again.

So hungry. It is after 1500 by now and I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. We soon leave and, of course, rush back home. We are home for at least 15 minutes before the other cars show up. Now I don’t think we went that fast, but still, he was in a hurry. In a hurry to wait again. Damn it!

So all of the food is laid out on the table and I am sitting at one drooling over the food. I text Kim and tell her that I am going crazy. Of course, once I do that every comes in and sits down. After everyone is seated I make a rough count of heads and guess around 70 people. Wow, this is the largest supra yet!

The guy sitting across from me tries to offer me wine and I politely decline. He looks at me with a ‘are you crazy’ look and shrugs his shoulders. The tamada (toastmaster) starts going with the toasts and the guy sitting next to me joins in and adds on to the toasts. All of the guys around me are drinking, except Demiko. He is very good at not drinking at supras.

I am scarfing down food as quickly as I can. Soon, the guy across from convinces me to have some wine for some special toast. Down the hatch! Soon, a wooden goblet of wine appears from the guy sitting next to me for me to drink. Seriously? I down it and quickly go back to eating food that can suck up the alcohol. A short time later I am a buzzing.

It turns out that one of the neighbors is hosting another volunteer teacher, Christine, and she comes over with her ‘sister’ and sits next to us. We chat a bit and her sister tries to get me to drink more. I ask her if she is trying to get me drunk. She claims no. Unfortunately for Christine, she sits next to a group of young guys that had been drinking a lot and they get her to drink a glass of wine. Instantly, the pounce on the opportunity and keep offering her drinks. I told her that she can so no, but she says that she cannot. She gives in eventually, so might as well just drink. At last I knew, she had 12 glasses of wine. I think I had about 6 or 7.

At some point I get up to go to the bathroom and decide to hang outside for a while. Fresh air. No wine. Much better. My hi-five friend is out there and we start it up again. Shortly, other family members come out and we start taking pictures. We all make our way back in and soon music starts. And so does the dancing. Christine joins in and everyone loves it. Especially the young guys. They all ask me to join and I say no. They give me a very hard time for Christine has drank more then me and is now dancing. Oh well.

Side note – I have noticed that peer pressure is always in full force at a supra. Drink! Eat! Dance! It never stops. Just a warning. I have been pretty good about sticking to my guns and not drinking or eating anymore. As for the dancing, I had no interest and they just could not understand this. I almost got my arm pulled off at one point as someone was trying to pull me up. Eventually, they realize that I am not persuaded by their powers of manipulation and give up.

I go outside to take a break and see that Amy has called me. Yes, an excuse to escape. I call her and we talk for a while. While I am talking to her, people start leaving. It is at least 3 hours since the supra started. I decide that I should get back and get off the phone.

I stay outside and play with some of the small cousins. I ended up calling Kim for another escape that works for a good 30 minutes.

By this time a lot of people left. I get called back inside and there are just three guys left at the table, still eating and drinking. I join them but refuse to drink. By this time my head and stomach are not doing well so I just down the water as much as I can.

I go to the bathroom again and decide to sit outside and let my body rest. I am sitting there with my eyes closed wishing that I could be at home in bed. By this time it is about 2200.

While I am sitting there, my hi-five friend (the kid that got baptized) sits next to me and eventually lays his head down in my lap. My eyes are still closed but I peak out every now and then and see that he is a asleep. This was the best moment of the day.

Some of the other cousins come over and make fun of him and try to wake him up. I wave them off and they stop. They go get his mom and the other mom’s and they all have a good laugh. His mom takes some photos.

Shortly after, Rostom shows up with the taxi to go home and the mom tries to wake up her boy. No luck. Instead of picking him up, she jerks him up and he does not respond well. I wouldn’t either for that matter. We all say our goodbyes and I am finally heading home.

We get home and I instantly go to the bathroom to shower and shave. Ah, it felt so good! When I came out, Rostom was watching Alien on TV so I sat and watched a bit. After about 20 minutes I went to bed and crashed.

Here are a some pictures (or view full screen slideshow of photos here).