BA #1: Easter |
Hi there people,
Surprise surprise, the bloggers are going to blog together once in a while! Once in 2 weeks or a month we will blog together about one certain topic. So if your wondering what 'BA' means, it means 'Blogger Article'. But if I would write that, the title would be very long. We're going to blog about personal story's, about holidays, about things in life, you name it! I hope you're looking forward to it. It's just once in a while, so you won't get spammed with it. Everyone worked really hard on their part, so enjoy. And ofcourse we wish you some nice Easter days! Traditions of easter across the globe.
Finland-Children in this Scandinavian country go begging in the streets with
sooty faces and scarves around their heads, carrying broomsticks, coffeepots and
bunches of willow twigs. In some parts of Western Finland, people burn bonfires
on Easter Sunday, a Nordic tradition stemming from the belief that the flames ward
off witches who fly around on brooms between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Poland-Pouring water on one another is a Polish Easter tradition called Smingus-Dyngus.
On Easter Monday, boys try to drench other people with buckets of water, squirt guns or anything
they can get their hands on. Legend says girls who get soaked will marry within the year.
The refreshing tradition has its origins in the baptism of Polish Prince Mieszko on Easter Monday in 966 AD.
Greece-Corfu-On the morning of Holy Saturday, the traditional "Pot Throwing" takes place on the Greek island of Corfu: People throw pots, pans and other earthenware out of their windows, smashing them on the street. Some say the custom derives from the Venetians, who on New Year's Day used to throw out all of their old items. Others believe the throwing of the pots welcomes spring, symbolizing the new crops that will be gathered in the new pots. Norway-Easter is such a popular time for Norwegians to read crime novels that publishers actually come out with special "Easter Thrillers" known as Paaskekrimmen. The tradition is said to have started in 1923 when a book publisher promoted its new crime novel on the front pages of newspapers. Spain-On Holy Thursday in the Medieval town of Verges, Spain, the traditional "dansa de la mort" or "death dance" is performed. To reenact scenes from The Passion, everyone dresses in skeleton costumes and parades through the streets. The procession ends with frightening skeletons carrying boxes of ashes. The macabre dance begins at midnight and continues for three hours into the early morning. Hungary-"Sprinkling," a popular Hungarian Easter tradition, is observed on Easter Monday, which is also known as "Ducking Monday." Boys playfully sprinkle perfume or perfumed water on girls. Young men used to pour buckets of water over young women's heads, but now they spray perfume, cologne or just plain water, and ask for a kiss. Germany-Germans will pile up their old Christmas trees and burn them on Easter Sunday and Monday, signifying the end of winter and the start of spring. It’s a festive night, with adults enjoying alcohol and food as they watch the fires chase away the remainder of winter. Mexico-In Mexico it is traditional to burn an effigy of Judas, the betrayer of Jesus. It is usually burned on the Friday or Saturday before Easter, and can sometimes be filled with fireworks for added effect. This can also be seen in, Greece, Venezuela, Crete, Portugal, and Spain. Colombia-Chocolate eggs are not on the menu if you visit this part of South America over Easter. Colombians like to feast on iguanas, turtles and large rodents over the festive period - presumably because they've had enough cocoa through the rest of the year! Embarrassing Easter Anecdote!
When I was in kindergarten, my class had an Easter egg hunt. Our teacher hid eggs with chocolate inside around the room and students went in groups ans were given a few minutes to find as many eggs as they could. However, when it came to be my turn, I couldn't find any! Our teacher gave everyone that only found one egg hints to find another later, so I ended up with one egg, but felt so embarrassed since I'm pretty sure I was the only one that didn't even find one on my own! (But hey, I'm pretty good with egg hunts other than that one time)!
Why do we paint eggs during Easter?
It’s a common question, why do we paint eggs? Eggs are a symbol of life. We celebrate spring because Jesus rises from the dead, he start living again. So Easter brings life. Flowers grow and birds sing. The first Christian people started painting eggs. They coloured them red to express it’s the blood of Jesus. There are a lot of theories, but they are really boring to tell. So I’ve found this outstanding theory and it took my attention. Eggs painting is in fact a very homey happen that fits well with the 19th-century family romance. It is also the time that schools have been set up and therefore declares the idea that schools are largely responsible for the spread of this tradition. Especially teachers made kids excited to paint eggs. In this century we cling to the old traditions, but the meaning disappears. When I was a child I used to paint eggs. I painted faces, flowers and names. I really loved to draw. The result wasn’t really good, but what do you suspect from a child? I had fun and that’s what counts. But then it was time to eat the eggs and when you could see paint on the egg itself, I wouldn’t eat it. I thought it was disgusting. Also we eat first the eggs that where really ugly, I thought it was a sin to eat the lovely ones first. What about you? Did you paint eggs, or do you still paint them? What do you paint on them? Tell us your experience during Easter! An Easter recipe
Wanna make a special easter treat, but is anything more than cupcakes rather complicated? No need to fear, I have a quick and easy design that you can use! What you will need: -Cupcakes -Frosting -Fondant (easy to find at the grocery store) -Food coloring in the color of your choice -A Knife or cutter -A rolling pin -Your hands -A clean work space For my easter cupcakes, I decided on some pastel blue egg fondant decorations. To dye the fondant, roll it out, add a few drops of food dye, and continue rolling and folding it till it gets the color you want (add more dye if necessary). When you have the color you want, roll out the fondant flat and thin with the rolling pin. Use a cutter or knife to cut out the shape you want. If you want to add more details, use food dye as paint to paint decorations (I did that for my eggs). Frost your cupcakes and place the fondant decorations on top. There you have it, fun easter cupcakes! Feel free to do variations on this, and post pictures! Happy Easter everyone! Thanks! Christina An Easter story
There once was a little egg, called Yugh. Everyone laughed because of his name. Yugh cried every day. Do you think an egg can't cry? Well.. you're wrong. You can hurt an egg too. Well.. in this world. On one day Yugh had to go to school. He absolutely didn't want to. Then the other eggs would bully him again with his name. He decided to scare everyone. He went to school. Before he came at his school, he drawed a big line on his middle, so people would think that he broke himself. Yeah.. you can break an egg very fast you know. So Yugh went inside. Everyone started screaming. Yugh pretended like he was hurt, but inside he smiled evil. Now he knew everyone cared about him. Yugh told everyone he was just kidding, but he didn't get such a nice response. Everyone became mad and went away. Yugh became sad again. Finally everyone loved him and now he'd ruined it. After a long and hard day at school, Yugh came home. His parents also heard the story. "Mom, dad.. I'm sorry. I just thought that nobody cared about me. They were only laughing at me, and giving me names. I felt bad. I wanted.." His parents told him to be quiet. His mom said: "Yugh, I know it's hard sometimes if people bully you, but lying isn't the solution. But we know how you feel, since we're eggs too. And we're not mad. But you need to apologize to everyone." Yugh smiled shortly. His parents weren't mad. They were happy with him, they forgave him. He hugged his parents and the day after that day, he went back to school. Everyone was still mad at Yugh. That day Yugh stand in front of the class. He told everyone how he felt. He told everyone that he wanted to be treated normally and with respect. He also told them he felt bad because of what he did and he apologized. After that day his classmates treated him better and they forgave him. Yugh never felt happier before. |