Easter!

Even though we have to wait another week for the event, Happy Easter! I never remember why Easter is on a different date in some countries, so this explanation is as much for myself as for any interested blog readers. Both the Western Christian Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrate this movable holiday on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox; sounds easy enough? Umm... no. First of all, Western churches use the Gregorian calendar (in use since the late 1500s) and Eastern churches still use the Julian calendar (introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC) to determine the date. Things are further complicated by the fact that you need to factor in ecclesiastical moons and paschal full moons (whatever those are), the astronomical equinox, and the fixed equinox and ayaayayaya… all the while operating under two different calendars that, by they way, don’t follow the same definition of the vernal equinox. Okay, enough. To simplify, it’s a calendar thing; Eastern churches follow the old calendar – the one that would have been followed in the time of Jesus – and Western churches follow the new calendar.

wall of Easter chocolate - yum...

So, we’re a week away from Easter here, and the stores are still full of chocolate, goodies and cakes; apparently an Easter Bunny lives here too. It sounds like the Easter tradition here, to generalize, is a bit like it was in Greece. People go to church on Saturday around midnight for a quick candlelight service, and then head back home for a break-the-fast wee-hours meal. However, in Greece there was lots of talk – and action – of people “fasting” (not eating meat) during Lent; here, I’ve neither seen nor heard anything about the no-meat thing. Anyways, lamb is the meat/meal of choice, and cakes and pastries and chocolates – eating in general – is the order of the day for Sunday. There are traditions galore that were (and might still be) followed, but who knows what still goes. The tradition of decorating eggs is still on, though the practice of spending hours intricately painting the oeuf are but followed in monasteries and very traditional households; most people use food colouring to dye eggs one solid colour, usually red. I’m guessing that the tradition of “the wetting” is no longer a popular one. It doesn’t sound good… and it isn’t, if you’re a girl. This is how it goes: on Monday morning, boys take a bucket of water to the house(s) of unmarried girls, and if they find them sleeping, the boys throw water on them. Sounds fun for the boys and not so fun for the girls. And… what’s the point? Apparently being drenched with a bucket of water in bed means that the girl will marry soon; in return for this fabulous news, the boy is rewarded with cake, eggs and/or treats. Hopefully Steve doesn’t’ get any ideas… there is no reward for bucketing me with water on Easter, or any other day of the year.

A few more things about Easter here: The Holy Week definitely becomes a great opportunity for shopping and house work, and this is one of the main reasons why people neglect going to the church. And: Some of the people celebrate Easter only out of inertia. I googled “Easter in Romania” and came up with those two fabulous tidbits about the holiday here. The inertia thing doesn’t surprise me at all, though in this coastal resort city, people are being shoved/forced/pulled out of their year-long idle immobility to prepare for the tourist season, which starts this weekend. It’s really quite amazing how much work is getting done, especially because we’ve seen no evidence of work all year long. The roads are finally being attended to (some roads), sidewalks are being repaired (some sidewalks), garbage is being cleaned up (some garbage), flowers are being planted and grassy meridians are being trimmed and gardened (some meridians). (We’re actually surprised that no one’s stolen the flowers yet – I suppose it’s just a matter of time.) Anyways, so there is (some) bustle and work, but only because of the upcoming influx of tourists. We heard that some hotels are offering packages for this weekend for only 120 Lei, to promote for the summer. That’s not even $50! Crazy. If we were in any other city, we probably would have come to Constanta/Mamaia for the weekend; because the finals don’t start until the 25th (UGH!) the guys have four days off. We’re not going to go anywhere though – I have yoga, there’s a birthday party for the coach tonight, and Tammy’s team plays tomorrow in the do-or-die fifth match of the semi-final. Their game will be on Netzone again, and we’ll all be there cheering… fingers crossed! They HAVE to win!! And I have to go make burgers for tonight. Happy Easter!!