Eggs and Whips, Alcohol and Witches

Velikonoce

Some of you have been waiting for this post for a while. I’m sorry it comes a bit late.

As we move swiftly from the cold and gray to the green and sunny (its about flippin’ time) something deep inside the American psyche eagerly anticipates colored eggs, grilled burgers, and jelly beans by the pound. I’m sorry to say, friends, that such expectations take some different forms in my current country of residence: yes, Czechs color Easter eggs… but that is where the similarities stop.

First the basics. Easter in the Czech Republic is celebrated on the first Monday after the first full moon following the Vernal Equinox. (This is the same system by which American Easter Sunday is determined… just one day later.) Because the holiday always falls on a Monday, the administration surely can’t expect people to work or learn, so everything is closed. Additionally, Czech students have Thursday and Friday off of school.

Easter (Velikonoce) festivities begin at sunrise. Boys and men of all ages rise quietly from their beds and reach for their Pomlazka… a 2 – 5 foot whip made of braided willow branches. Though most men hand-make their whips each year, they can also be purchased at reasonable prices in most city centers. With pomlazka in hand, the boys/men then beckon their wives, daughters, sisters and mothers from their beds as well. Tradition says that women who are whipped across the bottom on Easter morning will be healthier and more beautiful in the coming year. However, the woman can only be whipped while the man is singing/reciting a Easter poem. These poems are known by heart from a very young age, and most Czechs can recite them beginning to end in their sleep. Typically the poems last 20 seconds or so… but some of my students have reported that their dads will repeat poems a few times over for longer-lasting fun. Pictured is Jiri Paroubek, the current Czech Prime Minister, with his Pomlazka.

Within the home, the whipping is little more than a gentle, playful sort of ritual. However, once mom and sis have been tapped with the whip, the young men in the family leave the home in search of female neighbors, family members, and friends. The boys (4 – 18 years old… and occasionally older) ring the doorbell of their chosen target, are ushered in by the parents of the dreading female, and repeat the singing/whipping process with the new young lady… often with increasingly more force. Upon completion of the poem, young boys (12 and younger) are given colored eggs and sweets as a token of friendship and thanks. Older boys are given shots of alcohol. Remember, this all takes place between 6am and noon. A colored ribbon is also tied to the end of the whip for each girl who has been struck.When all is said and done, young boys return home with Halloween-like stashes of eggs and sweets… older boys are often too drunk at noon to return home quite yet.

Many of my female students are quick to point out that after noon, girls have the right to splash boys with water… as if this makes up for their newly acquired bruises. The vast majority of girls I’ve spoken with say that they hate Easter morning, but maintain that the tradition should be continued for tradition’s sake.

In the last two years, I have not witnessed this tradition with my own eyes… this year I was in Amsterdam (see previous posts). However, it a topic of endless interest for me… I just find it to be so baffling (in a completely non-ethnocentric sort of way, of course). Feel free to post your comments and opinions below.

Čarodejnice

Another big spring holiday is rapidly approaching which you should probably also know about. Čarodejnice is a holiday (un-official) which is celebrated on the last day of April every year. You may or may not remember me brielfy mentioning this holiday in a post last year, so I'll give you a refresher. At sundown, the Czech people gather at bonfires to celebrate the end of the cold months and the arrival of spring. These bonfires, ranging from small backyard barbecues to blazing wooden structures upwards of 10 feet high serve two purposes: first for roasting sausages and meat in various forms (I have neither the time nor the energy to get into Zabijecka, the pig killing event that takes place in the spring and fall in which all parts of the pig are eaten. Let's just leave it at: "Huh, that sounds interesting.") The second purpose of the bonfire is to serve as the base for the witch burning. An edifice of a witch, usually constructed of hay, sticks and old clothes are placed upon the fire at sundown.

I'm fairly certain that this tradition stems from a pagan ritual of old... a number of students and friends have more or less passed this information along. However, nearly all of my students see this tradition as simply a seasonal transition and an excuse to drink and eat grilled meat. The nest day (May 1st) is Labor day, so sleeping in and recovering from the night's festivities is no problem.

Svatek Prace

During communism, Labor Day was a government-sponsored holiday "in honor of the worker." Schools, factories, and businesses were all closed, but everyone was basically required to attend city parades celebrating communism. Those individuals who did not attend the parades were black-listed, as were their families for generations to come. I have one adult student who wasn't able to attend university simply because her grandfather had been unwilling to take his family to such an event. Had communism not come to an end, this student was certain that her children would have had similar limitations.

Nowadays, Labor Day is still a national holiday in which people are given a day off. There are no longer any annual traditions that I am aware of. People tend to spend the day with their families... as it should be, I think.

Interestingly enough, May 1st is also the Czech "Day of Love." Tradition says that young men should kiss their respective young ladies under a blossoming tree. Those women who are kissed will be (again) healthier and more beautiful because of it. Apart from the kissing, this day also serves as a Czech version of Valentine's Day, minus the greeting cards. Quite the transition between the Day of Love and Easter, eh?

I don't know how many of you are still reading, but I appreciate you getting this far. I hope you and your families had a great Easter, and that the weather outside your window is warm and sunny. I'll talk to you soon.

If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much.

I really knew very little about Amsterdam when I hopped a flight last Thursday morning.  I knew that there were a few canals floating around (punny, I know), I knew that Van Gogh spent a fair bit of time there, and I knew that it had an unfortunate reputation for government-supported debauchery.  I had also heard that it was one of the most uniquely beautiful cities in Europe.   So I went.

During those days we (me and five girls… no comments please) strolled along canals, spent time in Anne Frank’s home and Van Gogh’s museum, took a boat ride and a ton of pictures, ate stroopwaffles in Haarlem, and trekked to the Keukenhof Festival… home to such masculine focal points as tulips and windmills.  I know it sounds like I caved in a group vote or something, but the festival was actually pretty amazing.  Miles and miles of nothing but tulips (imagine driving through the middle of Ohio in the fall and all of the corn is colored bright red, blue, and yellow) and parks taken straight from a painting.  

I don’t have much to say beyond the fact that it was a great way to spend the 5-day Easter weekend.  I have promised a few of you a detailed description of the unusual Czech Easter traditions… but you’ll have to wait a few more days.  Sorry about that.

In honor of Amsterdam, I recommend the following tunes:
Amsterdam – Coldplay
Roxanne (from All This Time) – Sting
Amsterdam – Griffin House

Amsterdam.

The group near the Van Gogh museum. From the left: Courtney, me, Kassidee, Marianne, Sarah, and Meredith.

Supposedly you can see seven bridges from this spot. I only see five, but who am I to go against the tour guide...

Night in Amsterdam. I'd give my left leg to have a houseboat on one of the canals. Ok, maybe thats a bit extreme. But they were pretty amazing.

Amsterdam.

Haarlem.

The Keukenhof Festival in Lisse, Holland.

I'm sorry to say that this is best picture I have of the tulip fields, but hopefully you get the idea.

A Few Relaxing Weekends

I may have posted this picture at the beginning of last year... I'm too lazy to look right now... I am posting it now to draw your attention to Mt. Rip (Rzheep) in the distance. This hill is known in Czech mythology as the place where Grandfather Czech first looked over the land and claimed that it would one day be a great nation. I deeply regret not taking a picture of the sign on top of the hill that reads: Like Mecca is to Mohammed, Rip is to Czechs. Anyway, I made my first pseudo-hajj to the great hill last weekend, and certainly was not disappointed. I somehow feel that I have arrived.

Me, Ben, Zach, and Stephen atop Rip on an amazing Saturday afternoon.

The little church/rotunda atop Rip.

You may remember that every year the entire town of Kralupy up and walks 14km to a festival amidst castle ruins. The event involves games for children, plenty of grilled sausage, and more under-age drinking than you would believe... but a great time nonetheless. The trip is called "Do Okore bez Ore" ... or... "To Okor without a horse." I made the trip with a handful of my sophomores. Pictured are: Bed'a, Me, Lenka, Alena, Petra, Zuzka, and Misa.