The Easter Egg Battle

During my childhood, Easter was never one of my favorite holidays. The competition always beat me in every Easter egg hunt, the kids table never got to eat first at brunch, and the chocolate crosses we ate for dessert were bought the year before during post-Easter sales (not to mention I can't paint an egg to save my life). And before I knew what the holiday stood for, I used to think the whole day was solely dedicated to a creepily personified rabbit that hid things from helpless children.

But now that I understand the reason Christians celebrate Easter, I can appreciate many of my family's holiday traditions. For my final blog, I thought I would explain the symbolism behind two of our seemingly weird Easter practices.

Tradition #1: The Red Eggs

In most normal households— or at least how I picture most normal households— families gather round their kitchen table laughing together and painting their cute little eggs with various pastel colors. My house, however, usually only paints our eggs one color: red.

I know, nothing says "the holidays" like blood-red eggs.

But while having dozens of these monochrome eggs may seem boring and anti-holiday-like, there is much symbolism behind red egg cracking. Greeks paint their Easter eggs red to represent the blood of Christ, and the hard exterior of the egg is supposed to symbolize the sealed tomb. When we crack the eggs, the broken shell represents Christ's apparent resurrection from the dead. 

Basically, on Easter Day, the whole family gets together to crack eggs at dinner. After each person chooses the egg he/she feels has the strongest potential to win, two people go head-to-head in a full out egg-cracking battle; one person hits his opponent's egg from above, and the other hits from below. Only one of the battling eggs will end up cracking (this is the loser egg), and the winner gets to move on to the next person to fight again. This pattern continues around the whole table until the last un-cracked egg remains standing. Whoever owns this winning egg gets good luck for the year.

red Easter eggs ready to be cracked

*photo courtesy of Jen*

my sister and cousins dying eggs at our church

Tradition #2: The Cheese Pie
Contrary to the other savory pie I've talked about, spanikopita, this treat is made mostly of cheese. My family makes close to a hundred of these little pies every Easter season using my great-grandmother's "secret" recipe. For some reason, we only get to enjoy this Greek comfort food one time a year; and though this was the first Easter I wasn't home to help bake, I'm looking forward to going home this weekend and eating all the left overs. The tradition behind these pies deals with our 40-day fast throughout lent. Cheese pies are usually made on Holy Friday so they can be thoroughly enjoyed when the fast is broken on Easter Day.

my mom & yiayia next to one of this year's batches of cheese pies 

(photo quality is bad, but the pies are very good)

So, while Greeks celebrate Easter in a slightly peculiar way, the traditions we share every year are worth the annual wait. I guess the overall message from all of my posts is that yes, Greeks do life a little differently than most, but that's what makes the culture interesting. Each country's different customs make it unique, and though it pains me to say this, I admit that I, like all of my Greek relatives, am proud of my Greek heritage.

Why Not Celebrate Your Name?

All of us have that one special day each year when we get to pick our favorite restaurant for dinner, our family and friends shower us with presents/wishes for a good day, and our grandmothers bake us special treats. Though its just once a year, the excitement of having a whole day solely dedicated to our happiness is enough to pull us through the rest of the year. For most people, the day I just described resembles their birthday. But for Greeks, the most important day of the year is your name day. In fact, birthdays are hardly celebrated at all in Greece.

I know what you must be thinking, and to be quite honest I thought it was weird at first, too. How could some day dedicated to a name be half as fun as the anniversary of your birth? Well, to answer that question I should first explain what exactly a name day is.

Similarly to how Catholics receive a confirmation name, Greeks are given a name when they are baptized as an infant. The baby is named after a saint, and each saint has a specific day of the year dedicated to his memory. This day, as the name would suggest, is the person's name day.

For example, my Greek name is Eftihia (meaning "joy"), after the saint Eftihios. Because my patron saint's day of remembrance is April 6th, my name day is this Thursday. My grandmother's Greek name is also Eftihia- its customary in Greek culture to name your first daughter after her maternal grandmother- so we get to share the same name day. 

My family enjoys name days so much that we have even given non-Greek people a Greek name just so we have the opportunity to celebrate another name day. My boyfriend as well as my sister's and my friends have all been given Greek names of their own, based on their American names. (But don't worry, all of them were pretty excited to have this new name, seeing as they were practically given a second birthday.)

There are many traditions associated with these name days that bare much resemblance to American birthdays. Special treats, parties, and- perhaps most importantly- gifts accompany every celebration. Fellow Greeks will wish the celebrants a good day much like you'd send a happy birthday text; swap the word "birthday" with "name day" and you're good to go. One of the only differences between a regular birthday and a name day is the substitution of cake for the Greek pastry, halva.

My grandmother, who loves name days so much that she never forgets any of my family members', always makes this dessert on our shared day. Halva is made up of pretty much just semolina and corn oil, but the simple flavor is so addictive that you'll never want to stop eating the stuff. Every year, my family looks forward to this exclusive indulgence; its one of those foods you only really get to eat once a year. And though I won't be home to gorge myself with halva this Thursday, I'm hoping to get some leftover scraps at Easter. 

a picture of some nice-looking halva (the Greek dessert pastry)

*photo courtesy of Kayla Clements*

So if you're ever curious as to what your Greek name and saint might be (or you just want an excuse to celebrate your life twice a year), give it a quick Google search. If the partying and presents aren't worth it, the halva definitely is.