February 23rd is a celebrated holiday in Russia. It is officially labeled”Defender’s of the Fatherland Day”. As you can imagine, it does carry military connotations. In fact, I would consider it to be Russia’s version of “Armed Forces Day”. As it stands, this venerable holiday actually serves to honor all men (since all men are technically speaking defenders of the Fatherland especially in Russia where military service is compulsory), which makes it somewhat similar to “Father’s Day”. The point is, that February 23rd is the official holiday wherein men are honored and celebrated as a whole.
In light of this glorious event, the church staff (all female except for our live-in guard, Sergei) wished me a Happy Defender’s of the Fatherland Day today. They came up with a clever greeting card, spelling out English words in it using the Russian alphabet. Best of all, they gave me a beautiful cake from my favorite coffee shop “La Vita”. We all had a wonderful time celebrating, and best of all, we scarfed down the cake in short order. Everyone agreed that I was the best defender of my piece of cake, which though not as important as the “Fatherland” was certainly more tasty!
