Churches on the outskirts of Lviv.
Oh boy, I’m enjoying sitting eating nothing in my flat. It isn’t for the lack of food, but because I had another Easter extravaganza. Friday morning, I headed to Komarno which is a small town outside of Lviv with my PCV friend Melissa. She has relatives, because her pops’ parents are from Ukraine. So I took the marshuka to Lutsk, bus to Lviv, marshuka across town to the train station, and another bus to Komarno; around eight hours to get there. But oh let me tell you it was well worth it.
Slava, Hanna, & Bohdan showin' me the cake business.
We stayed with Bohdan and Slava Krut who are Melissa’s second cousins. They might possibly be the nicest Ukrainians ever. Their daughter and son-in-law along with their two kids live with them. (It is normal in Ukraine for many generations to live together in one house) I made quick friends with Iryna, an entertaining 6 year old. The first evening I got free admission of the family business; a cake bakery of sorts. The family made around 150 cakes for Easter, and they also baked many paskas (Easter bread) of all different sizes. Throughout the year, they bake cakes for events and weddings. I can testify that they areдуже смачний (very delicious).
Old wooden church where we watched Easter performances by the local children.
After getting to see the ins and outs of cake making, we headed off to the Orthodox Church. People from town were busy cleaning, dusting and hanging traditional clothes for Easter weekend. It was beautiful church and awesome to see lit up at night. Our little group made up of Ivana (Bohdan’s daughter), Iryna (Bohdan’s granddaughter), Kristina (Melissa’s other cousin) and Olya (Kristina’s daughter) stopped off at the Catholic Church before headed back to their part of town.
Some of our decorated eggs made the Easter basket. Unfortunately my I {heart} Ukraine red one didn't make the cut.
Saturday, Melissa and I got to sleep in and then were fed breakfast before another busy day. We headed across to the street to Kristina’s family’s house to color and design eggs. Some eggs were crafted really beautiful. Mine…ehh, but I can say I had a little more attention to detail than the six year old that was sitting next to me. After finishing the eggs, we hit the backyard pond with Kristina’s husband and three kids (all university or just out of age). With the collapsible cane poles, we caught some small fish. We used a catch and release system so it could have been the same three fish in the pond for all we know. After taking in some afternoon sun, we gather back in the kitchen to have some sandwiches as well as try some delicious homemade cake. I’m guessing that I probably sampled at least 15 different types of cake over the course of my stay.
Linin' up of the baskets.
At 6pm, all dressed up we headed off to get our Easter baskets blessed at the church. Each family brings a basket sometimes more than one to church. The standard basket ingredients are sausage, butter, cheese, salt, eggs, horseradish, ham, but aren’t limited to just that (I saw some kids with their own little baskets that had chocolate bunnies). Scriptures were read, songs were sung, and Ukrainians crossed themselves many times before the priest made his way around (people made a huge circle around the church) to bless the baskets as well as toss holy water on the Easter worshipers. Saturday night, we had a normal dinner and then enjoyed each others company before calling it a night.
The crew at the end of the Easter house crawl.
I opted to sleep instead of going to the 6am service. I figured God would understand that I needed enough rest for the Ukrainian Easter Crawl that was about to happen. On Sunday, Melissa and I ate at three different houses besides Bohdan and Slava’s were we started off with a heavy Easter brunch (all types of delicious dishes made from the ingredients that were blessed at church the previous day). Bohdan was kind enough to drive us around in his thirty year old Lada (soviet era). I thought my Whitey was a sweet car; his Soviet made wagon was a pretty pimping ride. We were welcomed at different extended family members’ houses with very similar traditional dishes. It was fun visiting with all the family. The Krut family has some pretty interesting businesses: cake, bees, rabbits, fashion design, and glass/mirror creations. They were no dull moments on this Easter excursion.
Slava and Bohdan giving us a warm send off.
Monday morning, we (Melissa, Bohdan, Slava, Iryna, and myself) headed to one last Easter feast. It was another extended family’s place that was just one village over. We again enjoyed many cakes, paskas, sausage and here I even had my second helping of holodets (meat jello) of the trip. By 12:30, we were headed back to Bohdan and Slava’s house to pack up our stuff. There we were greated by some of the family who came to see us off. We were not able to leave without being given an Easter bag of goodies. They were a little heavy to haul back to Lutsk, but worth it in the end. Bohdan and Slava drove us to the center of town to catch our bus to leave, even stood alongside the bus to waved good bye as we pulled out of the parking lot.
I may have not received a chocolate rabbit from the Easter bunny, but Melissa's family didn't send me home empty handed.
It was a long journey back to Lutsk. There was even an unfortunate incident with a puker on the bus ride home (inquire about details via email), but I eventually returned home to Kivertsi around 8ish unharmed. Easter of 2011 provided to be a great one despite being far, far away from home.
Miss and love you all,
Kate
No comments:
Post a Comment