EASTER WEEKEND (red egg styles)
Easter morning festivities began a little before 3 am with a brisk walk to the Russian Orthodox Church. It was pitch black, but it seemed that almost all of our community had made the trek with their Easter baskets over to the Church well before sunrise. Everyone placed their baskets in a giant circle around the outside of the church and lit a candle. Mama Nadia and I went into the church to get two candles to hold, and I have never seen so many people in such a small space! It put the marshutkas (small busses) to shame! There was a Church service from 12 am - 3 am, and my host mom and I watched a little bit of the service which consisted of (at least what I saw) the priest reading scripture.
Around 4:30 am the alter boys as well as babushkas came around collecting red eggs for the Church. The babuska in the red coat (in the above picture) is the local librarian that our cluster had met earlier! Along with the egg gathering, there was a choir that circled the church singing hymns. At 5 am the bells of the church started to chime, and the priest came around with a big brush and pail of water to bless all of the baskets as well as shower the individuals.
Mama Nadia had prepared a basket which contained pieces of our Easter meal (and our meals for several days after, apparently). Our basket had Pasca which is the bread (like a giant hot-crossed bun), eggs, salt, cheese, sausage, beef and butter. Once we were home at 5:30 am, it was time to start the festivities! Breakfast was served with shots of Papa's home-distilled vodka!
Around 4:30 am the alter boys as well as babushkas came around collecting red eggs for the Church. The babuska in the red coat (in the above picture) is the local librarian that our cluster had met earlier! Along with the egg gathering, there was a choir that circled the church singing hymns. At 5 am the bells of the church started to chime, and the priest came around with a big brush and pail of water to bless all of the baskets as well as shower the individuals.
Mama Nadia had prepared a basket which contained pieces of our Easter meal (and our meals for several days after, apparently). Our basket had Pasca which is the bread (like a giant hot-crossed bun), eggs, salt, cheese, sausage, beef and butter. Once we were home at 5:30 am, it was time to start the festivities! Breakfast was served with shots of Papa's home-distilled vodka!
Some of the foods on our Easter table:
- Meat Jello - just like it sounds, unflavored jello with different types of meat (chicken, liver, pork...)
- Sala - animal fat with the skin still on it.
- Vodka - homemade by my host dad!
When I told my host family that it is an American custom for parents hide easter eggs around the house for kids, they thought it was hilarious, and they still refer back to it! The rest of the day was spent catching up on sleep and some more eating. It was great seeing different Easter traditions!
P.S. Here are our new piglets!
P.S. Here are our new piglets!
- Someday we will eat these??...
Anne!! So glad you updated your blog. I've been checking back regularly to hear more! It looks like you're having a great time so far and spending a lot of quality time with your host family. I really enjoyed building a relationship with Pilar and that has proved to stand the test of time, so I hope you get the same experience and are enjoying your host parents! The bottling of the sap sounds like fun. However, what does NOT sound like fun is the meat jello and animal fat with skin. You can imagine the face I made when I read that little bit of news! Martin is real cute and I hope you dont have to eat the piggies some day! Once you name them, they are no longer fair game... Anyways, I hope youre having a good day and I'll keep my eyes peeled for more updates! Miss you and love you lots! Jonah and my parents say hi!!
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