We shared Christmas eve with Nathan and Dawn Hall, also missionaries living in Klaipeda. A few years ago before the boys arrived we had also had a kuchios meal and invited tem. So we knew they would know what they might be in for! But this time I did things simpler. I did not keep all the rules. I did not use the white table cloth, but probably we did have 12 different dishes including the drinks though. And it was meatless. And we did serve fish. But, we had a live poinsettia on the table which is strictly against tradition. And we did not eat the beloved herring that is part of many of the dishes on a typical kuchios table. We did have beet salad though. And I made kisielis- a thickened fruit drink.
It seems important to me for the boys to experience something of kuchios, at least as long as we are living in their home country where others will speak of it too.
On the other hand, each day they seem to become more and more Americanized so that other than knowing basic Lihuanian language and he cultural exposure of the preschool, they do not seem to identify too much with Lithuania. A few cultural carryovers are eating beet salad, oatmeal, buckwheat, and raw cucumbers...
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