Well the carp have gone from the "swimming" type of fish to the "eating" type of fish. As with any tradition, I have to be a part of it, especially since I am from the U.S. and this is my first Christmas in Poland. So my uncle showed me how to help the carp make their transition and now I too have fully taken part of the Polish Carp tradition. Well, except for the eating part, that comes today.
So why all the fish? Well in the Polish style of celebrating the holiday, we start on Christmas Eve. This is how I celebrate Christmas even in the United States with my family, only no carp. It is a day of fasting and of no meat, so hence the fish. Then, at the end of the day, the whole family gets together at someone's house and we have a big meal of different kinds of fish and meatless dishes. This meal is called the Wigilia. We sit around, talk, hang out with the family, normal holiday stuff. Then, after we have eaten the carp, we open the presents.
At the end of the night we go to church and celebrate a midnight mass. Coming home, since it is after midnight and technically the first day of Christmas (December 25) we are allowed to eat meat and some families start right then and there and have some more food. It is also, at this point, the end of the Catholic season of Advent for which many people do not drink alcohol, so following the mass with their food they might enjoy a glass or two of something to drink.
My family is a little more muted and we might be a bit tired so might just go straight to bed. When we wake up, we have the first day of Christmas and we again get together and feast with everyone. We do this again for the second day of Christmas (December 26). So here in Poland, we will be celebrating three days for Christmas. That's one of the reasons we have so much carp, because it needs to last for the whole three days.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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I have never had carp. Was it any good?
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