Maslenitsa

Maslenitsa is the biggest holiday I’ve seen so far in Russia… biggest, and longest. Let me explain.

Roughly translated, “Maslenitsa” means “Butter Night.” This name is a bit misleading, though… it might better be called “Blinedelitsa” (“Blini Week”). It’s the Russian Orthodox equivalent of Mardi Gras: the celebration just before the “Great Fast,” as Lent is called here in Russia. But instead of having one night of celebrations, the Russians take a whole week to eat all of the blini they can.

Explanation Interlude: Blini are kind of like crepes, but better. You can eat them with just about anything. I’ve had them with tvorog (this magical stuff with a taste like sweet cheese but a texture like feta), jam, Nutella, ham, cheese, and even salmon. They are a carrier for all things luxurious and wonderful. And this week, every café in the city started featuring them on their menus as a nod to the great holiday.

Anyway. It makes sense that the Russians would want a whole week of Maslenitsa, as opposed to the one day of Mardi Gras. For one thing, the week of festivities is proportional to the super intense fast that follows. Traditional Orthodox Christians will go the whole 40 days as vegan: no meat, fish, dairy, or eggs. After being and eating here for 5 weeks, I actually can’t imagine how they pull this off… the city is not exactly laden with green things. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last vegetable I ate (it’s not my fault, Mom! this is why I take my vitamins). Everything is dairy, dairy, meat, and then more dairy. So a week named in honor of butter right before the country’s favorite food goes underground for a month is merited.

The other reason the week makes sense is its conflagration with another holiday: the beginning of spring. In Russia, spring begins on the first of March. On the Sunday of Maslenitsa, the very last day of the celebrations, there are festivities all over the city in various parks. People come out of the woodwork in traditional garb, there are folk songs and games, and everyone eats lots of blini (of course). The highlight is when they burn the effigy of Mother Winter, signifying the arrival of the new season.

Of course, “folk games” are mostly along the lines of sledding, ice skating, etc, because the end of February is still the dead of winter, honestly. Burning Mother Winter is more of a hopeful gesture than a celebratory one. This year? I think everyone was confused about what exactly Maslenitsa meant… it’s been spring for the last two weeks already. My host dad says he hasn’t seen a February like this in his entire life, and he’s well into his 60s.

Unfortunately, the weirdness of the weather + my host family being out of town meant that no one was able to go with me to any of the Sunday celebrations. And from what I’ve heard about these things, there is much alcohol and much carousing … so going by myself was not a particularly good idea. And besides, I know few people who like attending large parties by themselves. None of those people are introverts.

So. My Maslenitsa celebration was pretty much confined to Saturday night, which I will describe in my next post…