8 April 2005. I am being helped into one of my birthday gifts, an embroidered Cossack shirt, by my university colleagues.
Our department head, and my coordinator, Valentina is adjusting the sleeves.
Apparently I am larger than the average Cossack. Petro Vadimovich took me to the shirt factory later in the day to be measured for a shirt that would actually fit me.
Not only was I being congratulated on my birthday, I was being conferred the status of "honorary Cossack". So, in addition to wearing the shirt, I had to drink a shot of samongon (homemade vodka), eat salo (pigfat) on black bread, pickles, and a pickled apple.
Everyone here gets a kick out of seeing an American knock back a shot of samongon.
This is me with our prorector, Petro Vadimovich, and the members of the department of foreign lanugages.