Polish Easter

So I comprehend that Easter is about a week and a half removed from now, but this post was delayed by my laptop's unexpected hard-drive crash. As I was determining what topic to do for this blog post, I realized that one of the things I had been most looking forward to with a semester in Poland was to observe the Easter holiday and see how it is done here. Being Catholic myself, one of the reasons I had chosen Poland was for the strong Catholic background of the country, and the presence of Catholic churches every block much like Baptist churches in North Carolina. 

As I have traveled all over this city, exploring the various regions, I have always been struck by the number of clergy, particularly nuns, that I have seen going about their business. How often does one see a nun in the traditional habit going through the checkout lane in the grocery store in the US? To me it has been refreshing, a place where religion can mix in public society without causing stares or insulting comments. There is nothing like running into a nun on the street to remind one to attend church on Sunday. 

Anyway, as Easter approached, I was looking more and more forward to attending Mass in the Cathedral of Wroclaw. I was also looking forward to finding some ham and making a brown sugar glaze over it as is traditional, but more on that in a few moments. 

I typically do not go grocery shopping until I run out of food - it saves money that way, to me. This way, none of my food goes bad, and I stretch my stipend as far as possible. That reminds me, someone needs to educate this country on how to make a proper pizza, but since I do not possess an oven, I guess it will not be me. 

I managed to have 'perfect' timing, running out of food on Holy Saturday. I figured 'No problem, I'll run out when I wake up Sunday morning and find something.' Well, it never occurred to me that being in such a prominently Catholic area, stores would be closed for Easter. Turns out every grocery store near Olowek was closed, and had been closed since Saturday, and would be closed until Tuesday. Momentarily stumped, and completely out of food, I was a little uncertain as to what exactly I was going to do in this situation. Finally, I reasoned I could survive on junk food for two days, and I went in to the petrol station next to Olowek to see what food I could find. Turns out gas stations in Poland are unlike gas stations in the US for what food staples are available, as I could only muster potato chips and ramen noodles - ramen noodles! I almost never eat ramen, let alone purchase it for myself, let alone eat it as my Easter dinner! So there I was, Easter Sunday, consuming potato chips and ramen noodles, listening to my mother tell me about the wonderful ham and brown sugar glaze, mashed potatoes, and black forest trifle she had made, and then listening to my girlfriend describe what her family was having - Italian beef, ham, cheesy potatoes, and the list goes on and on - my noodles paling in comparison between either family's repertoire. And of course, Monday I ate the same thing as the grocery stores were still closed. 

However, at least the Mass was excellent. It started exactly on time, at 18:30 hours (6:30pm), and was about as traditional as Mass can get. Those in attendance were of course dressed in their Easter finest, high-class formal clothing. I do not understand much of it, due to it being entirely in Polish, but still, it is always nice to see such a high level of reverence and respect displayed. Younger members of the congregation paused and allowed the elder members to approach the Communion line first, everything was conducted almost silently, the choir singing in the background, etc. As I was not sure what to expect from an Easter Mass in Europe, I cannot say if my expectations were met or not, but that I was completely satisfied with what I received.