Easter Sunday - April 4, 2010

Alarm went off at 6am – got up and began to get ready for celebration at orphanage at 7:30. Got on my long black skirt, boots, sweater and grabbed a scarf!! Off we went about 7:15 to orphanage. We went into the dining room and all of the children were seated and having fun talking. They were all dressed up and looked adorable. The food was on the tables – the large “cupcake” breads were all along the center of the table and each had 3 very thin candles coming out of the top. Plates were at each seat and each plate had 1 slice of tomato, 1 slice of cucumber, 1 slice of sausage, 1 slice of cheese and 1 small slice of bread that was buttered and topped with chives and caviar – yes caviar! There were cups of apple juice and for about every 4 plates there was a bowl that was full of congealed broth w/ some type of meat in it – it was disgusting!!! The plates that held the Easter bread were surrounded by hard boiled eggs. There were also plates of sliced bread.
Lubov saw us and gave us seats at the end of one of the tables closest to the “entertainment”. Before we ate, the candles in the Easter bread were lit and then about 6 of the older girls got up and gave an Easter reading with about 3 songs – it was adorable. Kristina was the head of that group and she was just lovely – she was hosted this winter and is a delightful girl.
After their presentation the priest (Pope – as they call him) was there with about 4 choir people. He chanted and we all responded (or at least tried) and crossed ourselves about 1000 times! The priest was dressed in beautiful robes and actually did look more like the Pope! His few choir people that sang the chant responses had beautiful voices!! After about 10 minutes of chanting and crossing, the priest along with a young man dressed like a monk walked up and down each table blessing all the breads, food and people. The fellow that looked like a monk had a large gold bowl full of holy water and the priest had a handle about 8 inches long with a mop head on the end – I know there are proper names for these items – I just don’t know them. Anyway the priest walked the length of each table submerging the “mop” into the bowl and sprinkling (more like showering) :-) each of us. Truly it was more like a “shower” than and “sprinkle” – for anyone that missed their early morning shower they got it at breakfast!!! Then the priest kept chanting “Christ has risen” – and everyone responds “He has risen indeed” – this was done over and over all in Ukrainian – not Russian. Then the priest left and everyone was allowed to eat. We really didn’t eat much but did enough so as not to offend anyone. I ate the cucumber and the tomato and a little of the sausage and drank all of the juice. Then bowls of candy where handed out and apples and oranges as well. It was all very festive. I was told the children look very forward to this event. Then most of the children went back to their rooms to change clothes and a few stayed to help clean the dishes from the tables. We had a translator to tell Lubov that we were honored to have been included in the Easter celebration and that we enjoyed it very much. I then went to Ira’s room to pick her up and we came back to the apartment until noon. At noon I took her back because the children were all going to the circus today. There is a small circus in town – not Ringling Bros. – but at least it was something for them to do. The afternoon has just been long and quiet. I will sleep well tonight after starting the day at 6am. I was grateful for the distraction of the Easter service today and was even more grateful to experience that with Ira so that I have shared and seen one of her holiday traditions with her here in her country – it really was special to do that.

Oh - and for everyone that is wondering about the "cupcake" Easter bread - yes I ate some of it when I got home. Brought my "blessed" bread back and did as tradition dictates - ate some of it. At home in US - I'd tell you it's not good but here it's actually ok. It is a fairly dry - but it is very lightly sweet with a few golden raisins mixed in here and there. I typically don't like raisins but funny what is good when living like this. Hopefully my bread will help have good fortune next week!