Thursday, January 13, 2005

On The Mark -- Reporting From Russia, Series II -- Superstitions

On the Mark has returned to Russia. This is the fifth in an ongoing series of posts.

The Russian people are very superstitious and still follow longtime traditions, particularly in the provinces. For example, when an out-of-town (country) guest leaves to return home, it's traditional for the hosts and guest to sit in silence for a minute to reflect on their time together. These moments of silence always remind me how long a minute is and how there really is a lot of time at our disposal if we only used it properly. Anyway, that's for another tangent...

There's one superstition that I didn't know about, and felt bad once I learned about it. Let me explain (as Tom Friedman likes to write). It's a tradition/superstition when a guest visits or stays at your home or flat in Russia that you don't clean it after they leave until you know they have arrived home safely.

When I returned from my previous trip, I got busy quickly and wasn't able to write to my friend in Voronezh for a couple of weeks. My friend immediately wrote back, "I'm so glad you got home safe and that you finally wrote to let me know. Now I can clean my flat." My friend then went on to explain the superstition.

So this time, out of common courtesy, I won't let my friend live in dust and grime unnecessarily.

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