Happy Easter!

First off, before we discuss Easter, can we talk about how discussing Keanu Reeves brings anonymous comments to the blog? I'm sorry I don't love the guy and I'm very appreciative of the anonymous comment about which Keanu Reeves movies I should watch to see him at his best. It's really sweet, but, honestly, his movies and I just don't jive. I truly am a Drive Me Crazy or John Tucker Must Die kind of girl. I have a university degree and a husband. I don't have to be smart and/or a grown-up when it comes to my movie choices.

Speaking of movies, yesterday we went to the movies twice. I know, right! We have an 11-day break from classes (well--I have 2 class meetings and Nathan has one so it counts as a break) and we're desperately trying to fill the time. So yesterday we went to see 27 Dresses and Vantage Point. 27 Dresses was everything you expect it to be--there's a great dance-on-the-bar-and-sing-Elton-John scene, the guy gets the girl and everyone lives happily ever after. In short, I loved it. I also really liked Vantage Point, but I was curled up in a ball the entire movie because it was so tense. It's really fast-paced, but you also have to watch the assassination and the bomb go off eight times, so you know it's coming and start dreading it. Other people told me they thought the movie was trite and predictable--I guess I don't watch enough movies about terrorist attacks. Oh well. That's fine by me.

So anyway, last night was the Easter celebration. Hardly anyone we've met in Bulgaria attends church regularly, but the whole town comes out for Easter. It's a big deal. We gathered in the square outside the church at around 11:00 pm. We bought our candles (all of the church candles are made of beeswax and it smells soooooo good) and waited. Nathan decided to go inside to better hear the liturgy while Tanya, Kim and I waited outside. Soon, the three of us saw the priests (decked out in beaded clothes) process out of the church followed by lots of singing patrons. We hoped that Nathan had somehow wound up in the procession and he had! He got to light his candle from the center one the priests had and then he broke formation and came over to us. Here's Nathan with his candle:
And here's Nathan lighting Kim's candle:
There were candles everywhere. We'd been warned to be careful about hair catching on fire and it is seriously a hazard! People were clamoring over Nathan to light their candles off the priest's and Nathan's jacket is covered in wax.

Also, people improvised with contraptions to keep their candles from dripping. Putting candles in yogurt cups or water bottles was very popular--I'm sure we inhaled a lot of melting plastic fumes.

The priests walk seven times around the church singing the liturgy and then at midnight the bells ring, everyone says "Happy Easter!" or "Christ is risen!" and then everyone plays the egg cracking game. Dyeing eggs is a seriously big deal here and everyone brings eggs to the church. At midnight, you crack your eggs against everyone else's and whoever has a cracked egg first has to give it up to the person whose egg cracked it.

Then, the entire town goes back home and you have to keep your candle lit the entire way. If yours goes out, you have to re-light it from someone else's candle. I'm pleased to announce that between the four of us, we kept one candle lit all the way back to Skapto! Hurrah!

This is the entire town in the church courtyard:
Happy Easter!

Oh, and two weeks from today we land in Raleigh! And then I get to go chill with some lovely ladies pool-side in honor of BFF's wedding! I'm.So.Excited. You have no idea.

Also, today I'm craving raw green pepper dipped in hummus, the blackened tofu wrap from Greenlife and unsweetened herbal iced tea. Yum.