Easter Sunday

The introduction

So the Easter Sunday was coming and the feeling was great as I would meet all those people that I hadn’t seen for a long time, I mean, it can be said, that many of them I had not seen for almost a year and some of them I had seen the Easter that was the year before and after that there was not an occasion, where we would meet. And well, the Easter Sunday was the time when we would meet and talk and have fun and enjoy ourselves, you know. That would be just amazing.

There’s this tradition on Easter, that when it’s Easter and when you say “The Christ has risen”, people just respond to you “Truly” and they usually repeat that three times in a row. Everyone just congratulates everyone and they all say those phrases and they are happy and everything. So, now you know and when you go out or meet people or whatever you do and they tell you “The Christ has risen”, you should answer them with “Truly” and it’s better if you repeat that three times.

Usually, on that day no one is alone and no one is outside in the streets or something and it’s like everything is empty outside. You are wondering where all the people are on that day? I’m surprised if you have that question. Because everyone is celebrating this day with their family and relatives, or even friends and everyone is at someone’s place and no one has time to be outside wondering in the streets with no reason. Well, the first thing they do is to go to the cemetery and pay respects to their gone family members, and then they go to someone’s home from the family and they celebrate this day with those red eggs and Paschas, which are an essential thing on the Easter table. There are usually many people at our great grandparents’ house, because my great grandparents had four sons and they all have two children each one of them, and now it’s not impossible to imagine how many people there can be present at Easter feastin that house.

Easter Sunday

The morning started great, I mean, I woke up pretty early and went downstairs, where everyone was. My aunt was preparing some dishes and my grandparents were having breakfast, so I joined them and had a little talk. We had Pascha cut, which was bought by my aunt and which was really delicious, I must say, I’ve written about that Pascha in another blog and I must repeat, that it was so delicious, that I didn’t think a Pascha that was bought at a shop could be that delicious. We all were amazed by its taste. Now when you take a red egg, you should have it broken and, you know, there’s this tradition of breaking eggs, I don’t really know how I should say it in English. Two people just take those eggs, each one has one egg and they just crash those eggs onto each other with their pointed parts and usually, one of the egg shells gets broken and it’s said, that when one egg breaks the other guy should eat the broken egg of another one. So, we had all those red eggs and we could just do that traditional thing how many times we wanted. However, it’s said, that one shouldn’t eat more than three eggs a day because of the cholesterol it contains. But, hey, it’s Easter and it’s just one day and I think, we can eat more than three, if we want to. But still, I don’t think, someone eats more than three. Some of the people barely even eat two on that day, because there are so many other dishes and Paschas and wine and all the other stuff, you know. That’s the festive feast.

So, my aunt prepared Ghomi, too, and she knew my other grandfather loves Ghomi, so that’s why she prepared it in the first place, so that she could take it to him and he would be pleased. Well, we ate some of it at home, too, of course, and it was really delicious. It had that Imeretian cheese in it, too and we had Nadughi also and we ate Ghomi with Nadughi and cheeseand it was really good. And the rest of it was put aside for the others to eat, because Ghomi is not something that you don’t want to eat when they offer it to you.

It was just morning, but my aunt and grandfather were already getting ready for going to the cemetery and they were packing some stuff, because that’s what people do at that time. They usually pack some red eggs and Paschas, of course, and some other dishes they have prepared and wine and go to the cemetery and it’s kind of a tradition, that when they go to the cemetery to their relatives’ and family members’ or friends’ tombs, they put some red eggs and pieces of Paschas on the tombs and they say toasts and they pour some wine on the tombs and they say that’s for the dead and stuff like that. So they were getting ready for all that stuff and they were pretty much looking forward to it.

Usually, we go to the cemetery at noon or something like that and almost everyone comes along and we meet each other and talk and all the other stuff. The visit to the cemetery usually lasts not very long and, maybe in two hours or so we go to our great grandparents’ house to have a celebration. Well, there have been times, when we have been up there until sundown or something and that was good times, you know. When the weather is fine and that’s not very often that the weather gets to be fine on Easter holidays, we can be outside and have fun and enjoy, but these recent years all I remember is that it’s been raining and stuff on Easter days and it’s just not great and I don’t like it, but what I can do?! So, we just have to be inside in the house or somewhere like that and celebrate  Easter that way, so that’s why we usually stay on the cemetery for a couple of hours, maybe even less than that.

You know, the cemetery is not a happy place for anyone and it should not be, if you ask me, but that day _ that Easter day is the day, when people celebrate that Christ has risen and that’s why the cemetery becomes more of a festive place just once in  a year.

So, this year, the Easter was on May and it’s not a month when you anticipate so much rain and stuff like that. And I hoped, that there wouldn’t be any rain and that it would be sunny and dry and it wouldn’t be all foggy and stuff like that,but I was wrong. It was raining on those days and it was just awful, it was all muddy and stuff.  But still, it was holiday and not many people paid attention to that raining and stuff like that, you know.

Well, there were many people. There were my uncles and cousins and grandparents… there were some cousins, who I hadn’t  met for a long time and it was really good to see them and listen to the news they had and all the other stuff. It was all toasts and talking and jokes on the feast, of course, and you can get many things while listening to people talking about different things and just making some jokes and everything.

I can not help but say it again, that we had those Paschas that were baked by my aunt and they were so delicious, that we couldn’t resist not eating them. I can even taste them right now. You know, there’s something special about Paschas. I mean, I don’t know someone who doesn’t like eating Pascha and who don’t look forward to having Easter holidays and celebrations. And I’ve told you that the recipe for Paschas is really hard and it’s really difficult to prepare them and people still prepare them and that’s really great, because homemade stuff is always good and I prefer them to store-bought ones. So, I really appreciate that effort that my aunts make to prepare those stuff, especially Paschas, as I’ve already mentioned both my aunts love to make Paschas at home and they are pretty good at preparing them and those Paschas are worth preparing, I must say, they are just delicious! And though they make some precious time for preparing them and they just do all that heavy work _ yes, that’s a heavy work, because when you prepare something just  for yourself, it’s not that it matters how it will come out really, I mean, if it’s bad, you just throw it out or just eat it however it is, but when you are making something not just for yourself, but for other people, and especially many other people, you get really nervous and want everything to be perfect and you try to do your best, but sometimes not everything comes out as planned and that’s what you’re afraid of _ of getting your dish bad or something like that, so it’s really a heavy work for someone, especially for someone, who is not a professional cook or baker or whatever and she just does this stuff and she’s just self-taught and stuff like that, you know what I mean. So, my aunts are just like that and, I bet, they get pretty nervous about those Paschas and they think (well, maybe they don’t really think that, but they feel that in unconscious mind), what if Paschas don’t come out as good as they want?! What should they do then?! But fortunately, they are so good, that nothing goes bad and that’s what I like about them. I mean, they have some years of experience, of course, but still, everything is not about experience, they are really creative and they know what they are doing and what they want to do, so they do it and they do it just great!

Now, you may wonder, why would I write so many things about that homemade stuff and things like that. I just want to tell you, how great homemade stuff is and I want you to be those guys who really appreciate things cooked at home or baked or whatever. You should really do that some time, and whether it’s Easter or some other holiday, you should consider preparing something for your family members or friends or someone else. It’s a great feeling when you give something to someone without anticipating them to give something back.

Well, you may have noticed, that there are no such traditions here as chocolate bunnies and hiding them in the garden and so on. We just have those red eggs and we don’t hide them somewhere or things like that. That’s really some difference between Catholics and Orthodox traditions on Easter holiday. Of course, there are some other differences, but I don’t want to discuss that now in this blog, maybe some other time, or not. It’s just that I wanted to share my Easter Sunday and some traditions and stuff like that with you and I hope you enjoyed my story and got to know some things about how we celebrate Easter Sunday in my family.

Well, to be honest, I couldn’t write everything in details and that is kind of sad, but maybe I will tell you more about Easter next time.

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