Tuesday, March 29, 2005
My Big Fat Catholic Easter
Had a little trouble posting my blog today, as (a) we've just moved to a different part of our apartment block to escape the drilling (it worked - yay! - but it means no internet connection till Thursday), and (b) I'm in the internet cafe and some grenouille has switched my computer's language to French. Why does the entire country have to be bilingual for the sake of 20% of the population? That, of course, is one of Canada's Big Questions.
One of the things Canada has got sorted, though, is its festivals. The Canadians know how to party. England has all the festivals Canada has, it's just that no-one in England bothers celebrating them. Valentine's Day is depressing unless...actually it's just depressing (here it's more of a celebration of friendship, so they even make cards in school and give each other chocolate - hey, any excuse). Apparently there's some sort of Queen's Birthday in England, but we're so ashamed of being English we don't even know when it is (in Canada it's a national holiday). And I don't ever remember going home for Easter - in fact, I only celebrated it because I'm a Christian and it means something to me. But here? Everyone celebrates it.
It started on Good Friday, when all the Catholics had a procession through the streets of Toronto, carrying lifesize crucifixes and wearing black. Some were even crying. Now there's passion! It really gave some meaning to Easter Sunday. I mean, what's the point of Easter Sunday if you haven't marked Good Friday? ("Hey, Jesus is risen!" "Really? I didn't know he'd died.") We had a big meal at my grandma's house, with fish instead of meat - not sure why - and gossiped about everyone in the family (considering 'the family' stretches to hundreds of people, it's a pretty meaty subject). Someone we know - not in our family - was whacked recently (yes, I mean in the Goodfellas sense), so that was pretty interesting.
By the time Easter Sunday arrived, every Canadian I spoke to was filled with a sense of anticipation. When I woke up it felt like Christmas morning! Church was completely packed (I had to stand for most of the service) and there was a real excitement in the air. At lunchtime the entire family (well, aunts, uncles, grandparents & co) came for lunch, and everywhere there were smells of goat and pig and whatever the heck else we were eating. There was a lot. Plus everyone brought dessert so there was enough to feed a sub-continent. The best dessert was Easter bread, an Italian specialty made with half a tub of lard, tonnes of icing sugar and some other stuff. You would have thought the entire family was hypo-glycaemic from the way we were stuffing ourselves. For the entire day, we didn't go half an hour without eating something (and if we did, the more traditional Italians broke into a cold sweat).
I was on a sugar and family-induced high the entire weekend. My buzz wasn't even ruined by the fact that our car couldn't make it up Joe's parents driveway because of the ice, sliding back down into a ditch and having to be winched out the next day (by the way, this is why North America has so many four-wheel drives - in winter, you can be completely stuck without one. I guess people who live in Texas have less of an excuse, but it's still less ridiculous than owning one in Chelsea just because you live 5 minutes away from school and your kid can't use its legs).
So this morning was distinctly anti-climactical. Joe and I could barely drag ourselves out of bed (doesn't help that 'bed' is a mattress on the floor, so we don't even have the aid of gravity). But this is the great thing about Canada. No sooner is one festival over, than another is just around the corner. I'm pretty sure it's someone's birthday in a couple of weeks, and even if it isn't, we'll be in England next week! Yay! Rain, lack of space, and overpriced crap! I can't wait! But it's the people who make it : )
Before I sign off, I was thinking that I haven't added anything to the Hilarious Signs Series recently. So here's one: an ad from a church inviting us to 'Celebrate Our Lord's Crucification.' What, of language? Honestly, some of the grammar here is atrocious (although it's no better in England). Just this weekend my uncle was telling me about a car he had boughten. And that's when they bother using the perfect tense ('have', for those of you who doodled through English class). Most of the time it's "Aw, I shoulda took the left lane" or "Did you see my keys?" I'm honestly thinking of giving free English lessons to Canadians. It could be my service to humanity.
One of the things Canada has got sorted, though, is its festivals. The Canadians know how to party. England has all the festivals Canada has, it's just that no-one in England bothers celebrating them. Valentine's Day is depressing unless...actually it's just depressing (here it's more of a celebration of friendship, so they even make cards in school and give each other chocolate - hey, any excuse). Apparently there's some sort of Queen's Birthday in England, but we're so ashamed of being English we don't even know when it is (in Canada it's a national holiday). And I don't ever remember going home for Easter - in fact, I only celebrated it because I'm a Christian and it means something to me. But here? Everyone celebrates it.
It started on Good Friday, when all the Catholics had a procession through the streets of Toronto, carrying lifesize crucifixes and wearing black. Some were even crying. Now there's passion! It really gave some meaning to Easter Sunday. I mean, what's the point of Easter Sunday if you haven't marked Good Friday? ("Hey, Jesus is risen!" "Really? I didn't know he'd died.") We had a big meal at my grandma's house, with fish instead of meat - not sure why - and gossiped about everyone in the family (considering 'the family' stretches to hundreds of people, it's a pretty meaty subject). Someone we know - not in our family - was whacked recently (yes, I mean in the Goodfellas sense), so that was pretty interesting.
By the time Easter Sunday arrived, every Canadian I spoke to was filled with a sense of anticipation. When I woke up it felt like Christmas morning! Church was completely packed (I had to stand for most of the service) and there was a real excitement in the air. At lunchtime the entire family (well, aunts, uncles, grandparents & co) came for lunch, and everywhere there were smells of goat and pig and whatever the heck else we were eating. There was a lot. Plus everyone brought dessert so there was enough to feed a sub-continent. The best dessert was Easter bread, an Italian specialty made with half a tub of lard, tonnes of icing sugar and some other stuff. You would have thought the entire family was hypo-glycaemic from the way we were stuffing ourselves. For the entire day, we didn't go half an hour without eating something (and if we did, the more traditional Italians broke into a cold sweat).
I was on a sugar and family-induced high the entire weekend. My buzz wasn't even ruined by the fact that our car couldn't make it up Joe's parents driveway because of the ice, sliding back down into a ditch and having to be winched out the next day (by the way, this is why North America has so many four-wheel drives - in winter, you can be completely stuck without one. I guess people who live in Texas have less of an excuse, but it's still less ridiculous than owning one in Chelsea just because you live 5 minutes away from school and your kid can't use its legs).
So this morning was distinctly anti-climactical. Joe and I could barely drag ourselves out of bed (doesn't help that 'bed' is a mattress on the floor, so we don't even have the aid of gravity). But this is the great thing about Canada. No sooner is one festival over, than another is just around the corner. I'm pretty sure it's someone's birthday in a couple of weeks, and even if it isn't, we'll be in England next week! Yay! Rain, lack of space, and overpriced crap! I can't wait! But it's the people who make it : )
Before I sign off, I was thinking that I haven't added anything to the Hilarious Signs Series recently. So here's one: an ad from a church inviting us to 'Celebrate Our Lord's Crucification.' What, of language? Honestly, some of the grammar here is atrocious (although it's no better in England). Just this weekend my uncle was telling me about a car he had boughten. And that's when they bother using the perfect tense ('have', for those of you who doodled through English class). Most of the time it's "Aw, I shoulda took the left lane" or "Did you see my keys?" I'm honestly thinking of giving free English lessons to Canadians. It could be my service to humanity.
