We all know that Valentine’s day was this past Wednesday. The traditional Valentines would go something like this: Chocolates, a surprise/gift for your loved one, chocolates, a heart shaped something…food or teddy, chocolates, flowers, a special dinner and more chocolates! Sounds about right?
Valentines is a relatively new celebration in Russia. It’s not so “Valentine Festive” here as it is in South Africa…or any other part of the world really. I’ve literally only spotted one table stand in a grocery shop with Valentine things on it, like chocolates, some teddies and other special treats. The only other Valentine related thing I saw, was heart shaped balloons in a clothing store. That’s it!
I didn’t see people handing each other Valentine cards, teddies, chocolates etc. Maybe like one girl I saw got flowers, but that’s not out of the ordinary. Here the men are big on giving their special lady flowers. (Out of love, or because they feel guilty…not so sure which one it is yet? 😀 ) There are flower shops on almost every corner, even down in the metro.
So, where does the pancakes fit into this topic?
I would say the “pancakes” are the actual reason why Valentines is not a real “thing” here in Russia. This is because in the week that Valentines falls in, is the same week as Maslenitsa. Maslenitsa is a week-long celebration, 12 Feb – 18 Feb. See why Valentines isn’t so big? Why celebrate one day when you can have a whole week of celebrations?
What is Maslenitsa? Or should I say, Pancake week?
Well the correct definition of Maslenitsa, is: It’s an Eastern Slavic religious and folk holiday celebration during the last week before “Great Lent”, that is, the eight week before Eastern Orthodox Pasch (Easter). Maslenitsa corresponds to the Western Christians Carnival, except that Orthodox lent begins on a Monday instead of a Wednesday, and the Orthodox date of Easter can differ greatly from the Western Christian date.
(Great Lent: The most important fasting season in the Church year in the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church, preparing for the greatest feast of the Church year, Easter.)
Okay so that’s the correct definition of Maslenitsa, but still, where does the pancakes fit in?
To answer that question, look at the word “Maslenitsa”. Maslo, in Russian means butter. That could be your normal butter or oil, “butter”. And what is one of the many things you can do with butter? BAKE!
Then, Maslenitsa is also a celebration to say goodbye to winter and hello to summer. That is when the seasons start to change, days are getting longer and nights shorter. More SUNNY days!
The Pancake is a symbol of this! You use butter (Maslo) to bake pancakes and it’s big and round, representing the sun.
The whole of Russia gets very festive and the people (Orthodox Christians mainly) eat pancakes every day for a week. The following week they fast.
And this is where my Valentine’s day got a Maslenitsa “remix” 😀
On Wednesday, we went to class like every other day. Started class and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. About an hour into class, our head teacher comes in with a very serious look on her face. She asks us something about our Visas and makes it sound like there’s big problems. She told us that the lady in charge of our documents is waiting for us in her office and we need to go there immediately! (The teacher’s office/mini classroom)
All frazzled and confused, we grab our passports and head out to her office/mini classroom.
The minute when we stepped in, she turned around with the biggest smile on her face and said “Joke!”. There was a table all set up with pancakes, jam, honey, sour cream, chocolates, toffees and cups were standing ready for tea and coffee.
She showed us how they eat the pancakes by just dipping it in one of the bowls with jam, honey and sour cream, taking a bite and then dipping it in the next bowl. Or you could just use a spoon.
We had fun eating, talking and laughing. Later when we went back to class, she gave us a little heart shaped “teddy” that says “love” in Russian on it, because she knew, at home we celebrate Valentines. (Just like she made our Christmas special). We truly have a mother, an angle of a teacher who really cares about us and makes us feel at home, thousands of miles away from home.
This was a short story of my Maslenitsa Valentine’s day.
I hope you all had a special and wonderful Valentine’s day, even if you didn’t have a special person. Sometimes the loved ones around you are the most special people you’ll need!
Can you believe February is also almost over? 2018 is going fast, so don’t forget to tell the people you love, you love them!
Have a blessed and lovely week!
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Talk to you all soon!
To Live is To Dance
xoxo
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So lekker om hierdie deur jou oe en gedagtes te leer ken . Geniet elke oomblik ♡
Baie dankie Tannie! Baie bly julle geniet die blogs.