Happy Easter....?

2 hour church services on Good Friday and Sunday? Check. Resurrection plays? Check. Easter lunch complete with full lamb sacrificed for the 13 people staying at our house? Check. Hidden chocolate eggs for the smallest kids? Check.

But there is one more Easter tradition that Slovaks (men particularly) enjoy partaking in. See below.



Apparently, the traditional getting doused with buckets of water, thrown into a river or whipped with willow branches is so that women will be pretty and healthy for the rest of the year. Don't ask me how or why, but that is what they claim! "Oblievačka" is the word used to describe this tradition and translates into English as " A water sprinkling". hmmm, the better choice (I would think) is the verb that accompanies this noun, oblievať. Oblievať translates into the English word "souse". I had never heard that word and had to look it up:
1. to plunge into water or other liquid; immerse.
2. to drench, as with water.
3. to dash or pour, as water.

Now, that sounds a little more accurate! Once said sousing has occurred, women are expected to pay their sousers in terms of chocolate eggs, money or vodka (age dependent). Where is the connection to Easter? Not. a. clue.

Luckily, I don't live with a family that clings to such traditions quite as strictly. I got a cup full of water that ended up half on me and half in my closet. Thanks Karol! ("host dad")

Hope you all had great Easters and that nobody got thrown into a river!

Resurrection Eggs

These little eggs have made my week! We had some visitors from Texas visit the center last week and these "Resurrection Eggs" were one of the gifts that they brought for the children.


Since we were, as usual, scrambling to find something for the kids the day before our meeting - these eggs came to mind and we set out to work. Each egg contains a small object that relates to the Easter story and comes with a Bible verse and short summary or explanation of what happened. With a friend (and native-Slovak speaker), we set out to translating all the stories and finding and marking all the verses in a Slovak Bible.

With the help of my friend and anyone else who dared walk past my desk of scattered papers, Bibles, dictionaries and eggs - I got all 12 eggs and stories written out in Slovak just in time for a nap and a bus ride to the village. Twice I was able to use these eggs to successfully keep large groups of young children relatively engaged! Hooray!