NOTES FROM ABOVE GROUND: Happy, Happy Easter!

Painting. Being artsy. Expressing ourselves through eggs.

Our masterpieces. Please note the HP house eggs, courtesy Styopa.

"All the king's horses and all the king's men."

♥Love these girls so much.

So for Easter this year I went Orthodox style. I am in Russia after all. It’s really neat to see how people celebrate the resurrection so differently yet so similarly. Even though I used different words and traditions to celebrate this year, many of which I still don’t understand fully, I never for one moment could forget the reason we celebrated. That was never lost in translation. The Orthodox Church holds services the night before Easter Sunday. They start around eleven and last until dawn when everyone returns to their homes for a feast of all the forbidden foods of Lent. Last night I participated in services at both Kazansky Sobor (one of main cathedrals on Nevsky) and Vladimirsky Sobor (a smaller cathedral right around the corner from my apartment). I could not believe the numbers of people that gathered, so many that everyone could not even fit in the cathedral. There was a procession around the church, lighting of candles, and lots of liturgy. Everyone brings the food for Easter morning to be blessed by the priest. It’s amazing and very revering to see such old traditions in practice. This morning I celebrated with my host family by eating a traditional Easter meal that included eggs, kulich (a traditional Easter sweetbread with dried fruit and nuts), and pascha (another traditional Easter dish made with sweetened curd cheese) among other things. It was quite tasty and fun. I can’t say enough how blessed I am to live with such a wonderful host family who is so willing to share these experiences with me. I had a truly lovely day. So to everyone at home, I hope y’all too have had an amazing day celebrating the wonder of our risen Lord. «Христос воскресе!» — «Воистину воскресе!»/“Christ is risen!”—“Christ is risen indeed!”