Well, first of all, although I live in a "Catholic Country" now, most of the people I know do not go to church. Therefore, for the first time in my life, Easter consisted of no church. My host family doesn't go to church and my friends don't go to church, so my host family had Easter plans for the entire day already... consisting of no church...
I started off the Easter celebrations on Maundy Thursday. Contrary to my usual tradition of going to Maundy Thursday church service, this Maundy Thursday celebration was a big party at a night club known as "The Week." Everyone dressed up and went to the club to somehow start off the Easter celebrations, beginning at midnight and ending at about 8am. While it was fun, I missed the usual church service I am accustomed to.
On Good Friday, my friend Lowell and I decided to follow an American tradition... painting eggs. Painting Easter eggs and doing Easter egg hunts are traditions not found here in Brazil so we decided to reminisce a bit. My mother had brought me an Easter egg dying kit from the states when she came, so we had a blast!
Then, I heard some beautiful music that night. I looked out my window and saw a procession. The Catholic churches process through the streets with lit candles and a statue of the Holy Mother. It was beautiful and I almost cried. I wish I would have known so that I could have participated.
Holy Saturday, The Final Four was on. Lowell and I went to one of the few places in town to watch the games... the Irish Pub. After paying to get in (almost 15 USD!), we ate dinner and enjoyed the games while meeting and chit-chatting with other Americans. Above the bar on the next floor was a live band and then a DJ, so we ended up staying out until about 6am. I left in time to see a sun rise... such a beautiful sight to see on Easter morning.
I got home in time for a quick nap. When I woke up, there was an Easter Egg in front of my room. No, not a normal Easter Egg, a giant one. A giant chocolate one in fact! The Easter tradition here is, instead of Easter baskets and Easter bunnies, they give giant chocolate Easter Eggs. My host mom had gotten one for me for my first Easter... and it was delicious!
I quickly dressed for the day. I was leaning toward a light, flowered dress to wear. After some thoguht, though, I picked a white dress instead. Easter is a time to remember new life! However, when I walked out of my room, everyone was in dark clothes. Odd, I thought about why no one was in whites or pastels. Then I remembered, Easter is in the spring in the United States. Easter signifies new life and new birth; we have bunnies and chicks and eggs as our secular symbols because of the time of year. Here, Easter is in the fall. The same ideas of rebirth don't quite match up with the season and the cycle of birth, so the colors and symbols are different. Wow! Something as important as Easter seems to have a somewhat different meaning because the idea of birth and new life just isn't as strong here in the fall! I never thought about that before.
After getting ready, we quickly headed to my host mom's father's house where we cooked lunch everyone. It was a lunch of sausages and spaghetti... not what I think of as a "traditional Easter meal," but certainly good. We ended to day chit-chatting and enjoying each other's company. It was a rainy day, so perfect to stay inside.
I enjoyed my Easter. It was certainly different than my traditional Easter, but I enjoyed it. However, I felt something was really missing. I really missed preparing with Lent services. I felt something was missing when I didn't attend Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. And finally, when I didn't celebrate the resurrection of Christ at church, I really felt something was missing. I realized this year how important my faith in Christ is and how important it is to be a part of the body of Christ and be able to be at communion with other believers at church.
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