When I was little (so little I can hardly remember this), my sister and I used to go "virpomaan" at Easter to our friends' houses. This is an old Russian Orthodox Palm Sunday tradition from way back when. You take some willow brances that are starting to bud, tie some crepe paper streamers on them in different colors (mostly green, yellow and red), you dress up like witches, and ring the door bell, and say the following poem:
Virvon, varvon
Tuoreeks, terveeks
Tulevaks vuodeks
Vitsa sulle
Palkka mulle
(This tradition is very much like Trick or Treating on Halloween)
The best Easter dish is "Mämmi". It looks like poo, but with cream and sugar...it is divine.
Two weeks before Easter we would grow "rairuoho" on a plate, which is just grass. When the grass is tall enough, you set your little fake yellow chick on the grass, and on Easter morning you would find the biggest and the most beautiful chocolate Easter egg on it. (If you didn't know, bunnies don't lay eggs)
Good times, good traditions...and we would get Thursday, Friday and Easter Monday off from school and work.
7 comments:
Thanks for sharing Marja! Very cool traditions....So did you get candy from dressing up like a witch and reciting the poem?
Those are great traditions! What is the translation of the little ditty you said at the doors? Why witches on Easter? That dessert DOES look like poo. We did the Easter grass once, only I put painted wooden eggs in it. I still have the eggs somewhere ...
Happy Easter! Glad you are all well!
I love hearing all your Finish traditions. Like I always say, we are boring in America. I am going to recite that Poem to Mikko on Monday.
That is awesome! Do you still continue those traditions? I love the grass on the plate. That is very cool. My kids would love it. The poo dish though...Is it chocolate? It really does look like poo, but I guess if it tastes yummy, who cares!?
Happy Easter!
Oh, seeing the grass made me sad all over again that I forgot to do that this year. You must remind me next year.
Thank you for a fabulous couple of days. It was so much fun.
P.S. I forgot to take the bottom sheet off of the twin bed to wash.
How fun! Michael especially enjoyed reading it. I think it brought back a lot of memories for him. :)
I just told Steve, "Oh man, doesn't that hunk of chocolate look DIVINE!? He started laughing and said, "hon, that is FAR from chocolate". He says the two things he DOESN'T miss from Findland are Mämmi and Luumu Kisseli.
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