Last night we left to go to the traditional Ukrainian restaurant on Olga Koblyianska. They were about to close, but after several "oden vechir in Chernivtsi/one night in Chernivtsi for our guests" and many budlaskas they allowed us to eat holubsi and varenyky. It ended up being great, and we had a ball. Everyone loves the holubsi and so I was glad they were able to have it one more time before Britt and Sandy left Ukraine.
We still had plenty of time before midnight. I had heard that the Easter services started at midnight. When I inspired about Sunday morning services, I was told there weren’t any. The services are from midnight to about 4AM and then they are done. Awesome…this late night girl loves it.
We walked down Vul Virmenska to the Drunken Church, where we experienced the same lining up of baskets. We each went up to the front, kissed the icons, and prayed. I enjoyed seeing everyone do that.
Then we walked up the hill to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which was dead. Not quite sure when they had their services. We decided we liked the first church better so we hiked back up the hill. There was much more activity. We found a place to stand about 11:20. It was right behind 2 large candelabra and we became hot very quickly so we changed locations. Orthodox churches do not have pews so we all were standing. About a quarter to midnight there was music and more activity. I loved seeing the people cross themselves and bow repeatedly. Clearly, this was a very moving day, as it should be.
There is such an elaborate nature to the ceremony, with lots of ritual and about half a dozen priests and assistants involved (monks, perhaps?). They group walked into the church and back into the apse repeatedly, at one point symbolically taking Christ into the tomb behind the doors of the apse. I later learned that the doors to the apse, usually closed all year and always only open to priests, remain open on Easter Sunday.
At one point we almost decided to leave, as we really had little idea what was going on. Then we began seeing a second round of activity. Plus, our basket had yet to be blessed. The basket blessing is a big deal…after 40 days of lent, and the requisite foregoing of something meaningful, it is a day to eat meat again after fasting, and thus the basket usually is filled with eggs, meat, paska bread, etc. We totally weren’t in the loop on this and so we had a tiny little basket with no decoration in it. Some of the others baskets were elaborately decorated and all had a traditional Ukrainian cloth over them. Our puny little basket didn’t, but I loved it nonetheless. 
The priest and his crew walked down the center aisle, blessing the baskets, and then walked outside and processed (and I mean that in the ost formal way) around the church, ending at the front door again. I had taught myself the traditional greeting for Easter and then heard it the first time outside as we stood in front of the church. The priest must have offered “Chrystos Voskres” (Christ is risen) about half a dozen times, and each time I loved responding, with all the other people, “Voistinu Voskres” (Christ is risen, indeed).
Witnessing this event, in this fascinating country, was very moving, and brought me to tears multiple times throughout the service. I felt so lucky to be in Ukraine on their biggest holiday of the entire year (bigger than Christmas, for them). I have written about how I love to attend church in other countries bc of the insights it allows into the people, culture, history, beliefs, etc., and certainly this was the biggest highlight of such experiences.
When were about to leave, Sandy realized she had lost a glove. Britt, Sandy and I went back in the church to look. I was able to look for about 3 minutes and then tried to get out of the church. Wrong. There were so many people following the procession that were pouring in the front doors of the church. It was a nonstop avalanche of people that began pushing each other. I was sandwiched on all sides and movement in any direction was not possible. Every so often someone would push and push from behind and I was worried about falling and getting mowed over. Some people were clearly in the midst of an important religious experience. Add to this the fact that more than half of the people crammed into this church were holding candles in their hands, without any kind of wax buffer like the kind they give you at First Baptist or Christ Church in Greenville. A few times I moved to avoid flames but found that I really couldn’t get out of the way. I hoped my coat wasn’t flammable. After a few minutes of this I heard Sandy call my name. I hadn’t realized up to this point that I wasn’t in the church by myself, with the rest of my family waiting for me to return with the lost glove outside. Britt and Sandy had gotten separated and Britt was worried bc Sandy gets claustrophobic. She was OK, though. Sandy and I were able to get together and wait for the stream of people to ease. Finally, this man in front of me and his little girl saw a small opening and darted very aggressively towards the doors, and against the flow of people. We followed them. I was glad to be outside, glad not to have been burned, and glad that was over. Now I know why the guidebooks warn visitors against going to the caves in Kyiv on the weekends or any other religious holiday. Whew.
At this point it was about 1:30AM on Easter. We walked back to the flat and opened a bottle of wine and talked about the service. It was definitely an Easter I will never forget.
On Sunday morning, after sleeping in, I made coffee, cooked blyny (Russian pancakes) filled with strawberries. Plus, I found some frozen strawberries and so I put those over the blyny. I really enjoyed playing hostess. We also went ahead and broke the paska.
We walked to the university, and I enjoyed showing them the main part of the campus.
Then, we went to the yellow church, where Mom and Sandy bought some religious icons.
Cooking Easter dinner, which also doubled as Sandy’s Ukrainian birthday dinner, was something I really wanted to do. Given that we have very few pots and pans and dishes, I was forced to get creative. Brittany was a huge help, as was my Mother. I overestimated how much food we would need big time, as you can see in the photo. I cooked polenta with feta cheese, peas, cauliflower and corn, potato, cheese, and what ended up being poppy seed varenyky, and sautéed red peppers, garlic, mushrooms, and onion. This was accompanied by wine and paska, and at the last minute, 2 pirozghis. Way, way too much food. Half of it is in my freezer. I didn’t even cook the cherry varenyky I had bought for Sandy’s birthday desert. I was proud of it, though, and later Sandy told me that of all the great dinners we had this was her favorite. Hearing that put a big smile on my face.
We were able to organize the car ride for the next morning with the cab driver. I wasn’t sure he understood so I had Lilliana call to confirm, and evidently he had understood perfectly. He ended up being 20 minutes late anyway…I had to call him twice, and when we get to the airport this morning he refused to take any money bc he said he was sleeping.
Just after midnight, we had a little birthday celebration for Sandy with some of the wine and deserts we had purchased at the market. She says she is so excited about Rome that she has forgotten about her birthday, but we haven’t!
Sandy and I blogged/journaled until about 2:30 AM, when I looked at the time and realized we needed to be up in 2 and a half hours to get to the airport on time. We arrived at the airport around 6:35 in plenty of time for the flight. The airport looked very different from the one time I had been there before, during that blizzard.
We flew to Timishoara, Romania, where we had a brief layover, and now we are on the flight to Rome. I am really looking forward to this for a variety of reasons. I have only been to Rome once, when I was 18 on my high school graduation trip. It was my favorite place we visited on that trip, and it is kind of crazy to me that of all the places I have returned to, Italy has not been one of them. I hope the actuality of visiting again lives up to the memories I have of this mesmerizing place.
This is a big birthday for Sandy, and we can’t wait to land and get into the city!
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1 comment:
What a moving account of your Easter experience. How amazing! Know you are going to have a great time in Rome, and I can't wait to read all about it . . .
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