Easter in Russia

Russian holidays come at different times because of the use of the Gregorian Calendar. This year Russia celebrated Easter a week after the United States. Easter in Russia is a really big deal. It is considered by many to be the most important holiday for the Orthodox church and is celebrated by all! Easter is called Пасха or Paskha. On this day you can greet anyone by saying Христос воскрес (khris-tOs vas-krYEs)! It means Christ is risen. They reply by saying Воистину воскрес (va-Ist-in-oo vas-krYEs)! This means truly He is risen or more literally truly risen. This includes your church family to any stranger on the street. Instead of seeing Happy Easter everywhere, you see Христос воскрес. Most Russians will begin the celebration Saturday evening around ten 'o clock at a Russian Orthodox church. It is a solemn time until midnight with the lighting of candles, and the priest proclaiming, "Христос воскрес!" And the people replying, "Воистину воскрес!"

 

After the service they enjoy time with friends and family. They will enjoy some delicious food that the ladies have spent many hours even days preparing.

The most famous Russian Easter bread, kulich, is known for its tall narrow shape. It is usually made with lots of butter and eggs, plus additions of candied fruit, raisins, and nuts. The bulging top is iced and decorated, usually with Cyrillic letters X and B for "Христос воскрес" or Christ is risen.



Here is a recipe if you are interested. It is very unique! I had to look up what cardamom was. If I'm not the only one that didn't have a clue what that was I included a link to the wikipedia site. Just click on the word "cardamom" below. I'm wondering if it could be replaced by ginger, but not sure about that.

Kulich

2 pkg. rapid rise yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm water
4 cups evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
4 cups flour
1 tbsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups butter
3 cups sugar
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp grated orange peel
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
9 eggs
12 cups flour
3 cups raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

Dissolve yeast in the lukewarm water. Set aside. Scald and cool to lukewarm the 4 cups of milk. Add yeast and the 1 cup of sugar, 4 cups of the flour and the cardamom to the lukewarm milk. Mix into a smooth dough and set in a warm place for approximately 2 hours. When the dough is done resting, melt and warm the butter. Stir the sugar, salt, vanilla and zest into the butter and add to the dough. Gradually work in the flour until the dough is smooth and elastic. Knead for 5 minutes. Add nuts and raisins and knead another 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl and turn once to grease the top of the dough to prevent crust from forming. Let it rise until it doubles in bulk. Roll into various sized balls and place in greased various sized metal cans you have saved. Grease the top of the dough again. Bake in a 350-degree oven. Baking time will vary depending on size of cans. When dough is done remove from pan and butter the crust. Place on baking rack to cool.

I am so sad we had to miss my first Easter in Russia. Next year though, Lord willing, I'll be able to post pictures from our Easter service and tell you more from my personal experience instead of my sweet husband's! :)  



How many rooms?

The biggest thing on my mind right now is the snow outside. It just keeps coming! It has dropped more than 6 inches in the last couple days. They haven't scraped our road in a very long time so getting in the driveway tonight was nuts. Four of us were behind the car pushing with all our might slipping and falling in the snow. Finally a very nice stranger walked by. With his help, we finally made it into the driveway. It took about an hour to get from our road to the garage! Oh good times! You know how when your normal schedule changes and it feels strange. Well, it doesn't feel like the end of March! :)

How many of you all live in apartments? We lived in an apartment while we were interning at Yakima Bible Baptist Church. It was wonderful. It had two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen/dining room. It was 969 sq feet. Apartments here in Moscow and the surrounding areas are very different. For starters, they are small. They range from about 350 square feet to around 600 square feet. Another thing is the floor layout. If someone says they live in a two room apartment, it doesn't mean they have two bedrooms. It means they actually have two rooms plus a bathroom. Some friends have an apartment that is a two room. It has 495 sq feet. One room is the kitchen, dining, and parent's bedroom. The other room is a living room and kids bedroom (they have two boys and a girl on the way). They are very organized people. I have been impressed with the creativity of those living in such small spaces. It's best to learn to make the best of what you have! That apartment is in Domodedovo and is probably worth around 50-60 thousand dollars. The next factor in all this is location. If you put that apartment in Moscow, you are looking at a million dollar apartment at the least! If we are talking downtown Moscow, we are talking more like two million dollars. If you put it on the twenty-fifth floor, you are looking at nearly three million dollars! So what happens when you put several apartment complexes together in down town Moscow? You get 500,000 millionaires living in one square mile of each other!

I was talking to someone who told me about an apartment he saw in another country he visited. He was amazed that they had one whole room just for a "restroom". This led to some confusion for a few minutes as I couldn't figure out what room he was talking about. He was actually talking about a room that you rest in...the living room. Unless you live in a house outside of Moscow, the majority of people don't have the luxury of one whole room just for a bedroom and another room just for a living room.

Spring in Moscow

Happy Spring! Can you believe the first day of spring is here? There is a certain excitement and newness that comes with the dawn of spring. What makes spring so wonderful? I think it's because it comes after a dark, cold winter. So without the cold, dreary days of winter, how would we know to appreciate the sunshine and new growth of spring. Let's remember to be thankful for those dark days and appreciate the bright days that much more. 



So what does the first day of spring look like in Domodedovo, Russia? Here are a few pictures I took this morning. I wish I would have made it out with my camera a little earlier because the day started out bright and sunny like a good spring day, but then a snow storm blew in seemingly within minutes. The sun is starting to back out again now. Ah, yes, spring in Russia! :)

The snowmen are actually melting! Poor things...they will be missed.

We can actually see the road! :)

And then there's the enormous mounds of snow that will most likely be there still in May or June.

So with the snow slowly melting now, the ground starts to reveal all of its dirty secrets. Trash is everywhere. The whole no littering thing isn't quite the same here. There are also many stray dogs here. They leave their "droppings" all winter long. It freezes and gets covered with another layer of snow. As the snow melts, all the nastiness gets revealed. 



Here's hoping you all are enjoying the new season!

Every Christian has a very personal responsibility to grow in their faith. Yet there are times when we seem to stand still. That is when God touches us like the earth in the springtime, bringing new growth and warmth for the faithful souls dedicated to His service.  - Ed Price

Don't eat the last piece!

When we first arrived in Russia a few weeks ago, I put on several layers to walk down to the store. Halfway to the store I was sweating! Sweating...in winter.... in Russia! Well, that is not the case anymore. We just went from the house to the car this evening and my hands were throbbing. Moscow is not among the worst, but it does get cold. Right now it's around 3*F with noticable breeze bringing the windchill to -13* according to weather.com. I still stand by my claim that I prefer arctic to desert though, but will let you know if that changes! LOL :)

We just finished an English intensive camp today. This one seemed to go a lot smoother than the one we did last summer. Living with the Russian people for several days straight definately gives some serious cultural experience for both Americans and Russians. Jed and Allen, the guys visiting from our sending church, have many stories. Some they probably wish they didn't have! Of course, the reason we do these is to meet people and share Christ with them. We have a preaching/devotion everyday and have opportunities to talk with them during the camp. It takes time to build relationships. Loyalty and trustworthiness is everything to the Russian people, but it certainly does not happen over night. They have a saying that basically means we'll be true friends when we've eaten a bag of salt together. That either takes a very long time or one really rough, challenging experience. I pray Joel and I have many bags of salt and lots of patience ahead of us!

I was listening to a conversation about culture during the camp. It is very rude here to eat the last piece of anything. Someone was saying how Americans don't care if you eat the last piece. One said, "Yes, because Americans are rude." The conversation progressed as the American tried to explain that just finishing the last piece is not rude in and of itself. It is based on culture. The Russian did not understand how anyone could think that was not rude. Culture is such an amazing thing!

Line drying in the winter

While I was packing to come, I made sure to bring dryer sheets. They are next to impossible to find here because most people don't have dryers. The dryers that do exist are very different from the states because the houses and apartments don't have dryer vents. We are currently living with Joel's parents and will be for at least a year while I learn the language and adapt into the Russian culture. They brought over a dryer on a container many years ago. All these years they've had to find ways for the vent situation. Well, yesterday the dryer gave out. It was a trooper for many years. If it was summer, this would be slightly easier. Hanging clothes on the line outside would result in frozen clothes! :) The other option...hang them inside...anywhere you can find a place. I have clothes on every chair, closet door and many other random places. :) I'm not quite sure what I'll do with the dryer sheets. Oh well, I've heard they are great mosquito repellents. I'll have to give it a try this summer.

The snow is SO wonderful!  It's not been too cold either so the snow was wet and stuck to everything. My icecycles are back and longer than the last ones. These ones are at least a foot long! It is weird getting use to all this darkness. In the 6 hours of sunlight we're suppose to get it still stays pretty dark because of the clouds. They said the sun has only shone itself twice in the last month.

Joel, Jed and Allen had a great time in Kolmekii. They have plenty of stories to tell. :) It's never dull to travel in this amazing country! Joel was able to preach on little to no sleep after travelling from the states for over 24 hours, then another 15 hours in a car. He didn't sleep at all on the trip down there because the driver kept falling asleep. It's interesting how survival kicks in with situations like that.

Always check the label

We have arrived safely. :) I always love the feeling when that last luggage shows itself. Praise the Lord the travelling is done and we are well...and so are our bags. Joel has gone to Kolmekii in southern Russia for a few days with a couple of guys who are visiting from our sending church. I feel bad for Joel though he didn't even have time to rest before leaving. Jet lag is in full swing for me. A huge chunk of snow fell off the roof last night and scared me to death. It woke me up from a somewhat restless sleep. I had no idea where I was and when I reached beside me to find Joel he wasn't there. Needless to say I was pretty shook up. Once I realized everything was fine, I fell back asleep until about 3:30 in the morning. Then my eyes popped open and try as I might I couldn't sleep again until 8:00...yes I slept until lunch time! :) LOL I must stay away awake until 10:00 tonight. I will not let you win, jet lag!

Funny story...I walked down to the store today with my sis in law. I needed chocolate and a few other not as important items. As we were getting ready to check out, I saw a 2 liter water jug and thought that would be nice to have in the room. The kitchen is two flights of stairs away and I'm feeling a little lazy at the moment...As I picked it up Hannah got this weird look on her face. "What do you need that for? You don't have a car," she says. I looked a little closer to realize I was planning on drinking window washer fluid . Even better, window cleaner here has a high content of vodka. Oh goodness, I'm starting off well. :)