Former USSR Heritage

Over the years, Western Massachusetts has been a popular spot for many Eastern European immigrants. Most of them came during the fall of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia looking for more freedom and opportunities to prosper. These people have brought many traditions with them, such as “New Years, which is a big tradition. We have a huge party that goes until 3 AM, and that’s when they bring out a Santa Claus”, explains senior Ilana Kofman. Here many families eat out a lot, but sophomore Katarina Boskovic says, “My grandma usually makes our meals, so we don’t go out to eat a lot since we always have home-cooked meals. My family eats together every night, it’s like a little get together for us to spend a little time together before we return to what we were doing.” Ilana agrees that this is the case, and adds that “we eat lots of Russian foods like syrniki (farmers cheese pancakes), [soup with] frikadelki (meatball soup), and borscht (beet soup).