Easter in Saudi Arabia

Since my mother was visiting during Easter, it truly felt like a family celebration this year. Mom and I attended a sunrise Easter service and Zeina was delighted with her Easter basket and egg hunting and cracking.

As many of you know, George is Orthodox so, in most years, we celebrate Easter twice in our house. And, that means we celebrate with both American Easter and Orthodox Easter traditions. Zeina hunts eggs and participates in the Orthodox tradition of egg cracking.

Following is a summary that I have largely copied from the website hubpages.com that explains the American Easter and Orthodox Easter.

"The first, and most obvious difference you may have noticed about American Easter and Orthodox Easter is that they normally fall on two completely different Sundays. It is a rare happening when the two Easters merge, but it has happened and will again. This year, 2009, Orthodox falls on April 19th. In 2010, both eastern and western hemispheres will celebrate Easter on April 4th!

These Easters also bring with them some major differences in the way in which these days are prepared for and celebrated.

While Americans are dying their eggs in pastels and stickers, and await the Easter Bunny for great gifts of stuffed animals and cream filled chocolates, the Orthodox have something a little different in mind. They are shooting off fireworks, lighting candles and they are dying pot-fulls of crimson red eggs symbolizing the blood of Christ. Easter egg hunts are replaced by egg-cracking games.

There are great feasts at both tables, however these feasts have their differences too. For example, at an Orthodox table, you will most likely find a lamb as opposed to a ham. And as for rolls, at an Orthodox table, you will find at least one loaf of sweet, buttery, brioche-like bread.

In Orthodox culture, eggs are usually dyed on the Thursday before Easter. Nothing is done on Good Friday. No one works or cooks. You basically act as though someone in your own family has died (in a sense, someone has).

After the feast on Easter Sunday, the Orthodox family participates in the egg cracking game

Here is how it works:
It takes two to crack eggs properly.
First, you and your partner must chose your eggs. you want an egg that seems as though it would hold up to a good beating.
Hold your egg in your fist as though your fist were an egg cup.
You will want to chose which side you want facing up first.
Tops will smash tops and bottoms will smash bottoms.
All actions are done vertically.
Next, decide who will try to smash the other's egg first.
It is very important to attack your partners egg head on, otherwise it is considered cheating.
If you have succeeded in cracking your partner's without cracking your own, you get the next hit. (If you started tops, bottoms are next).
If no one's egg has cracked, your partner gets a try.
The winner is the one with the least damage.
The top winner is the one who's egg has withstood it all. Unless of course you are really wanting to eat your egg, because you can't crack it on your own unless it's the very last egg left!"

This is the first Easter we introduced Zeina to the egg cracking game and she found it more interesting to throw her hard-boiled egg on the floor and watch it smash, than to play the game properly!