Happy Easter!
No, my calendar is not a week off. Bulgaria, being primarily an Orthodox Christian country celebrates Easter based on the Julian calendar, while most Western-based churches celebrate on the Gregorian based calendar. Occasionally they sync-up, but they’re off most years based on their lunar calculations. Anyway, point is: today is MY Easter!
Growing up, we colored eggs (which was my favorite) and enjoyed Easter bread. We didn’t have egg hunts, an Easter bunny or Easter baskets, which is a little sad because I would have loved a whole ‘nother chocolaty feast holiday. We did have a game we played with our eggs though — each family member picked their own colored egg and we would take turns trying to break each other’s eggs with our own. The person with the last egg standing was the winner — mostly of bragging rights. Looking back on it, they were kind of a looser, because everyone got to eat their egg except for them.
I didn’t attend Easter services until I moved to the U.S. Looking back, it’s strange for a country to celebrate a purely religious holiday with every aspect of religion yanked out of it. However, this holiday is actually my most favorite church attendance day, and the only day I have an urge to go. I don’t know if it’s the midnight mass and the sight of the congregation circling the church holding candles, or finding people that share the same memories and traditions as me — there’s just something really special about it. It will be a long while before G is old enough to stay up to go so I can take him, but I wonder if he’ll feel about it the same way I do. Somehow I doubt it, because my immigrant experience won’t translate the same way. He will get to benefit from the best of both worlds though: egg hunts with friends; bread and eggs wars with my parents; an Easter basket from mom and dad. Lucky kid!
Hristos Voskrese!
I love that we have such familiar childhood traditions! None on my friends celebrated orthodox Easter. Looking at your red eggs brings back so many memories of such happy times as a child. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
Vo Istina Voskrese!