EASTER HOMESICKNESS -- EASTER LATVIAN STYLE

Although we miss Texas and our family, it is not often we get homesick. But, the holidays always seem to make us more prone to really wanting to see our boys and be back in a familiar place. We were lucky enough to spend Christmas and New Years with them but we have missed out on Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and now Easter. Our family is all in this adventure together and they have never once complained about the sacrifices they have to make with us being in Latvia. So, we hope they have a good Easter weekend and that they know we wish we could be with them and celebrate this holiday with them. We love you.

We are noticing several differences in the Latvian Easter celebrations. Not too many major differences, just some minor things such as:

• No egg hunting outside ... since there is already about 2 inches of snow on the ground and it is supposed to snow most of Saturday night, it is kind of hard to effectively find the eggs! The city-wide egg hunt for kids is scheduled (inside) for the Kultura Nams (Culture Hall). Forecast on Sunday is for a high of about 29 degrees.
• Worship service at 5:30am ... yes, 5:30am! Many churches world wide have 'sunrise' services. Since Cesis Baptist Church shares their building, the owners get first crack at the sunrise service. So, the Lutherans will be celebrating a sunrise service and the Baptists will be celebrating a 'pre-dawn' service. We will have regular service at 2:30pm also. It will be interesting as I don't think I have ever been to church this early. Walking to church, in the snow, at 5:00 am on Easter morning ... who would have thought this Texas couple would be doing that?
• Since flowers have not made an appearance here, there seems to be less emphasis on greenery and flowers in the decorations.
• No Easter ham, deviled eggs, ice tea, mash potatoes, black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, fried chicken or soft dinner rolls BUT we will eat at our friends' house and I'm sure we will have cabbage salad, boiled potatoes, black bread, pickles, karbonade, hot tea and honey cake for dessert.
• Last but not least, I'm thinking I will see a lot more fur coats, ski jackets and parkas rather than Easter bonnets and spring dresses.

Even with the differences, the Christians here have a very strong sense of the meaning of Easter. They understand that the entire Christian religion points to this one holiday as the make or break idea behind our beliefs. We look forward to celebrating Christ's resurrection tomorrow no matter how different the surroundings. Maybe with less emphasis on the standards of man-made success we can focus more on the true meaning of this special day.

We hope you celebrate a glorious Easter with your friends and family.