Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Christ is Risen!

I am not the most spontaneous person.  I'm a planner.  I wish I could be spontaneous; just pick up and go somewhere new without any plans.  Well, for Easter weekend this wish came true.

Orthodox Easter this year came a week late (we go by the old calendar so sometimes it is a week late).  Josh and I didn't really have any plans except to go to church and hang out at home.  So on Good Friday I was at home attempting to make for the first time ever the traditional Easter bread and cheese (Kulich and Pascha).  I was pretty excited about making it because I remember when I was little watching my mom make it and wondering if I too would someday be making this on my own for my own family.  So here I was, just me and my Kitchen Aid with my grandmother's old recipes, all the necessary ingredients and some old tins my grandmother hand delivered to me to bake the kulich in.  Mid-baking, while my kulich was attempting to rise, Josh came home early and surprised me by saying "Guess what?  I have Monday off!".  This was a surprise to me and Josh working on Monday was one the factors keeping us from traveling up to my parents for Easter.
Traditional Russian Kulich and Pascha

So Josh proposed a crazy and spontaneous idea.  "Want to go up to San Fran for Easter and surprise your parents?"  Keep in mind this was 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon and San Fran was an 8 hour drive away and I had my Kulich rising.  After about a 2 minute pro/con discussion we decided to pack up and go.  I abandoned my Kulich and started to pack.  I am the worlds slowest packer and remember I'm a planner so to to just throw clothes in a suitcase without planning what I was going to wear each day was a challenge.  But I didn't care, I was being spontaneous and doing my best to channel spontaneity.  From the time we decided to go and the time we actually left it was a little over 30 minutes.

Pascha service with the Bishop



The drive up to San Fran was not so fun: lots of rain, snow and traffic.  But Josh and I didn't care.  We were too excited for our big surprise to let any of this bother us.  8.5 hours later we arrived at my parents front door at 12 AM.  We didn't want to give my parents or grandparents (who were also visiting for the weekend) a heart attack so we called my mom first.  I told her to come answer the door and from her voice I could tell she was surprised.  I think she said "What?" and "Are you serious?" probably at least 10 or 12 times.  My parents had absolutely no idea; Josh and I definitely pulled the surprise off.  When my grandmother discovered I was here the first thing she asked was "What did you do with the Kulich? Did you finish baking it?"



Candle procession around the church

The weekend was the best!  I'm so glad I got to be with my family for Pascha.  Its such a special time of the year in the church and it brings back so many memories.  Josh even survived the 3 hour midnight Easter service.  I'm so happy we decided to step outside our comfort zone and be spontaneous.  I'm not sure why I don't try to be spontaneous more often because it is so fun! 

One of our Easter traditions: Egg wars! 




1 comment:

  1. Lovely! Adventure. You share your stories so well both in writing and in images.
    Happy living of life and your traditions.

    ReplyDelete