Entre Les Murs

Melting Pot Party

We spent the weekend back in T.O., seeing friends and rellies, but the impetus was an engagement party of a good friend.  The groom is of Russian Jewish extraction and his family organized the do.  One could scarcely believe the food: piles and piles of everything imaginable: crab and lobster, sushi, oysters, salmon, caviar, liver paté, cold cuts, stewed peppers, duck, avocados – and that was before the hot food arrived.  Our plates were teetering on the edge of the table to make room for all the dishes.  At one point a platter was passed and a whole trout was discovered beneath it that had been sitting right in front of us for an hour, undiscovered.


Then the band started playing: loud, glitzy Russian pop music, or lounge standards with a Russian twist.  Flashing lights, tight pants and shiny shirts, and the sound system cranked to the point of distortion.  Lots of laughter and toasts and dancing.

When we left an older Russian woman asked how we enjoyed it.  She said that they do it to show what they are, only she phrased it more like how they became that way.  Interesting to look at the occasion as a history lesson.  Obviously the newest chapter, their recent adoption of the new world, is reflected too.  The wedding ceremonies of every culture tell a story of unique tastes, values and history, and this one is warm and genuine and quite overwhelming.

posted 12.5.08