Stuzkova!!!

SOOOOOOOOOOO it was Stuzkova last night. The closest thing we have to this celebration is Graduation but let me tell, our graduation ceremony is sad and pitiful compared this!

I'm still not entirely sure why they hold there graduation in December but they do. The graduating class from the school i'm attending is about 50 people (two classes). So Mariely and I got all dressed up. Mariely is like a little diva and she loves glitter (I'm not so keen on the whole sparkle thing...) so it was hilarious watching her get ready. Sparkling lip gloss, nailpolish, hairspray, eyeliner....and anything else you could think of. You could see her in the dark! Then when we were finally ready (I say finally because it took us three hours to get ready. Most of this was dedicated to trying to figure out how to curl her hair with a straightening iron. We ended up looking it up on Youtube! So now I know....).

When we arrived at the hall I was surprised by how beautiful it was. There were floor to ceiling deep red velvet curtains, sweeet little table settings, and a giant dance floor cleared. The parents of the graduates sat on one side of the room and the grads on the other side. We (as the exchange students) got to sit with grads which was nice. We came in greeted all our friends and gushed about their beautiful dresses and suits and then took a seat in the hall, not knowing what to expect. I then proceeded to be swept off my feet at how beautiful the whole thing was. They still have a lot of tradition tied into their graduation and it genuinely felt like a celebration of what they have accomplished. They took the time to thank their parents and teachers for their support over the years.

All the grads walked in, in pairs an did this walk about so everyone could see them all dressed up. Ruffles and pink are definitely in over here! There were alot of them to be seen! Then they did the ribbon pinning ceremony. each grad was called forward and had a green ribbon pinned to them (kind of like we have our square hats in America) and the students tied a green sash around each of their teachers that read THANK YOU. Then it was the first dance. All the daughters went and got their dads and the boys their moms and they all two stepped to a traditional sloval folk song. This was super cute but the whole thing made me feel really home sick to be honest. I wasn't expecting it too because I was so excited for it but it definitely did. I think it was because you can see all your friends are sooo happy and they have their really close friends and family all around them. And there was me, I had no one (except Mariely). So that was the hard part, trying to shake off the aching I felt inside , but I did eventually.

After the dance there was some eating and then all the grads got together again and put on the performances they have been working on for the past few weeks. They were hilarious little skits and dance routines! I didn't understand mcuh of it but it was still more than enough just getting to watch thme. They had make shift costumes on but you could see their done up faces and hair peaking through. The one class did a dance to the MJ song Thriller and the other a musical kind of performance. There were videos they made posted on a screen, and the teahcers did a tribute to them as well. Then of course there was more dancing. At one point the students all took a teacher and danced with them.

At midnight all the grads gathered again in a circle, one for each class. They opened a bottle of champagne and poured it into a GIANT wine glass and each of them took a sip as it was passed around the circle. Then when all of it was gone, they threw the glass in the middle and smashed it on the floor! All of them rushed in to pick up a shard of glass to keep as a reminder of the night and they joined hands and danced to a song about stuzkova that is played at every stuzkova in Slovakia. It was really funny but really nice to see.

So all in all, I would say slovak grad beats out canadian grad any day. It was amazing to watch and so cool to be a part of it all. I will put some pictures up later when I get a chance.

Now I am off to a cabin with my family and Mariely to celebrate Mikulas! (St nicholas day). On Monday is the real day but everyone celebrates it on the weekend. I have no idea what we will do but i've been instructed to wear a red shirt and bring extra clothes because we will be staying there overnight. I'm super excited because I know it will be a good time. I will tell you all about it when I get home on Sunday~!!!

Love!

P