EASTERTen European countries present Easter

FRANCEEaster in France

In 2014, we will celebrate Easter on Sunday April 20th . Along with Christmas, it’s the most important religious holiday because it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Eight days before Easter is Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. On this occasion people go to church holding bunches of branches in their hands, which will be blessed during mass. Some people will fast for Lent but on Good Friday, people traditionally eat fish. Many people attend Easter mass, and after, we often find ourselves eating again with family. On the menu, there is often lamb, but not always. It is also a day when we organize Easter egg hunts for the children. We hide chocolate eggs all around the house or garden, and children must find them before they can eat them. It’s also fun to paint egg shells to decorate the house. We say that these are the bells that lay their eggs on their return from Rome. What is certain is that Easter is a time to eat mostly egg-shaped, bell-shaped or rabbit-shaped chocolate. Yummy! Easter Monday is a holiday – not a working day. Images from the website: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=easter&l=cc&ct=0&mt=all&adv=1 (Creative common license)

FRANCE

FRENCH GUIANAIn French Guiana, Easter is one of the most important religious holiday with Christmas. It is synonymous of family meetings, great feasts and happiness after Lent.Eight days before Easter,it is Palm Sunday. On that day, people go to church holding plaited palm tree leaves in their hands, which will be blessed during mass. They mostly buy these plaited palm tree leaves at the market.Good Friday is a holiday here so there is no school. People do not eat meat but a traditional meal made of couac (a kind of cassava flour) and comou or patawa ( palm trees fruits). We also eat “marinades” made with vegetables, shrimps or codfish. And, many people attend Ways of Cross.Before Easter, everyone cleans his house .On Easter Sunday, families gather to share the traditonal Easter dish called “bouillon d’awaras”. There are as many recipes as cook. But, the main ingredients are awara sauce (a palm tree fruit), vegetables (spinash, cucumbers, beans) and smoked beef or smoked fish. It is said that anyone who tastes the dish will come back to French Guiana. Of course, children eat a lot of chocolate.On Easter Monday, we visit friends and relatives to share a good meal again!

FRENCH GUIANA

Awaras

“Bouillon d’awara” “Plaited palm tree leaves”

Awaras

GERMANYIn Germany, we celebrate Easter, because it is the day of the resurrection of Jesus. He, as God´s son, overcame death. This annual tradition originates in the Christian belief. In the evening before Easter people gather around a big pile of wood which is burnt – the Easter fire. This is a medieval tradition, and it is really cool. It is cold outside and you can stay with your friends around a very big fire, you can warm up and have a nice time.During this time of the year, we also have Easter holidays in Germany, so every pupil is happy. Spring has come and flowers start blossoming. Everybody is glad about the decoration inside the house and outside in the garden. Eggs and candles are everywhere in the house. A popular decoration is a bunch of blossoming branches, decorated with coloured eggs. Outside bushes or small trees are decorated with coloured eggs, too. The custom of boiling and painting eggs, the symbols of new life, began in Germany; the bright colours represent sunlight and growth.Children are very happy, because the Easter bunny is coming. The Easter bunny delivers sweets for the kids, often in a little basket or a nest, but it is not so easy, the children have to search the sweets in garden and in the house, because the bunny has hidden the sweets. Typical menus are lamb or duck. My family and I often eat duck for Easter.PS.To tell you the truth, not the bunny hides the eggs but the parents– early in the morning while the children are still sleeping….

GERMANY

GREECE Easter is a religious celebration. In Greece, Easter starts from Saturday of Lazarus. All the girls decorate their baskets with beautiful flowers. The same day, the girls go to the houses of other families, singing a traditional song. The housewives give them some eggs and money. The other day, is the Palm Sunday. This day all the residents go to the church and they take palms. The lunch of all the people this day, are fishes. Then, the ‘Week of Passions’ starts. All the people get prepared for Sunday. The housewives make Easter cookies. Till the Maundy Thursday, the godfathers and the godmothers bring gifts to their godchildren (the candles to hold on the resurrection day, an easter cake, a chocolate egg, a pair of shoes and some red-painted eggs). On Maundy Thursday morning, all the people paint red eggs. At night, all the women go to church for the Christ’s crucification and at the end of the liturgy, the women and the children decorate the epitaph. At night of God Friday, the children with their lanterns, and their parents with their candles, go to the church and watch the orbit of the sepulchral. The Big Saturday is the night of the Resurrection. All people wear beautiful clothes, take their candles and at 11:00 o’clock they go to the church. At 12:00 o’clock the bells ring. This means that Jesus Resurrects. All the people hung together saying: «Jesus Resurrect». Next day, Sunday, is the day which all families have the barbequed lamp as their lunch. All neighborhoods smell delicious. The tables are full of different traditional foods. Then follows another week off schools. The following Sunday is the Thomas’ Sunday, which means the end of the holidays.

GREECE

ITALY Easter is a very important Catholic festivity in Italy. It celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ after three days of his crucifixion. During the Lent the priest comes to bless our homes. The week before Easter is called The Passion week and on Good Friday there are lots of historical recallings in different Italian towns. In particular in our town Gubbio, there is a medieval procession called The PROCESSION OF THE DEAD CHRIST.

On Saturday before Easter all people go to church to consecrate bread and boiled eggs that are the symbols of new life. We also cook a typical cheese cake with Parmesan and Swiss cheese called Easter cake.

On Sunday Easter we have breakfast with the consecrated food and then we go to church for the Mass service.

We have a big lunch at home with our family. The traditional menu is like this: lasagne, roast lamb,vegetables, dove cake (typical sweet cake for Easter) and chocolate eggs. Children are looking forward to unwrapping the chocolate egg, because there is always a nice surprise in it. It is usually a game or a toy.

In the afternoon we go to visit our friends and relatives.

We also have a big dinner in the evening.

On Monday, we go out for a day trip, or we visit our relatives.

In Italy Easter holidays last about a week,(for students),but adults who works in offices or factories have only a long weekend (Monday included)

ITALY

POLANDEaster in Poland

Easter in Poland is the most colourful holiday. It’s full of folk patterns and bright shades. Easter is a time of joy. We have fun and we spend it with family. The way to prepare for Easter is spring cleaning. It’s not only about cleaning our houses but about remove evil from our souls. A lot of families do the traditional palms themselves .One of the traditions is decorating eggs. We create Pisanki. Easter Sunday begins with the mass of the Resurrection. After mass we have breakfast with family. It’s a very special moment during this fest.Children most like Śmingus Dyngus (Wet Monday). It’s about sprinkling family (also strangers) with water. Kids have a lot of fun. But adults also enjoy this special day.

POLAND

SLOVAKIAWhat does the celebration look like in our country at Easter time?

� For some people Easter is more important than Christmas, mostly because of resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day

after his crucifixion. We celebrate Jesus Christ rising from the death. It is the end of fasting period and it is a movable feast. The christians go to church for the catholic services.In villages people dress up in national costumes and follow certain traditions.

� It is logical, that a lot of traditions belong to Easter as they belong to Christmas, or even more.� We eat smoked ham, a special food made of lots of eggs and milk and eggs are cooked in many different ways.� Eggs represent new life and newly born human beings. Very common custom is to decorate them with all new techniques.� Girls are poured with cold water to be healthy and beautiful (we are the only state in the world where girls are happy to be

whipped and splashed by cold water)� Girls are also whipped by willow reed – to be fit. It is not very favourable deed. Girls shout and cry and try to hide away from

brave boys but there is not chance to hide. Then girls give chocolate eggs with colourful ribbons to boys` whip as a sign of reconciliation.

� We are not used egg hunting but it is becoming popular in some families nowadays as an influence of globalization.

SLOVAKIA

SPAIN- Easter, Pascua, and Semana Santa, the week leading up to Easter, is important in Spain. There are serious religious processions in the streets, and people follow floats decorated with images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. However, Easter Sunday is a time for celebration and joy as Jesus’ life is remembered. - The first day of Semana Santa is el Domingo de Ramos, Palm Sunday. People go to church on this day and carry a palm branch which is blessed by the priest to remember those who laid palms on the ground to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem. - During the week’s parades, there are people who wear long robes, known as Nazarenos. Their identity is unknown as they wear cone shaped masks that cover their faces known as un antifaz. Their anonymity helps them concentrate on their purpose: to pray in a humble manner and think about the suffering that Jesus endured.

SPAIN- On Maundy Thursday, el Jueves Santo, the bells are silenced and they do not ring until Easter Sunday in remembrance of Jesus.- The Via Curcis, Stations of the Cross, is an important festival especially in Seville that depicts Jesus carrying the cross on Good Friday. Seville is one of the most spectacular places to see the Easter parades and it attracts thousands of visitors every year.- On el Viernes Santo, meat is not eaten. Instead, special Easter dishes made from fish and vegetables are prepared such as Sopa de ajo (garlic soup) and Potaje de vigilia (a cod stew with chickpeas and spinach).- Other traditional Easter food include: torrijas - fried bread soaked in milk and egg served with honey; pestinos - a type of sweet fritter/doughnut; hornazos - sweet or savoury pies made with pork and eggs or almonds and aniseed; leche frita - fried condensed milk.- El Lunes de Pascua, Easter Monday, is a special time for family. They often go to the park and have picnics, including una mona - an Easter cake.

SWEDENDuring Easter, the children have a week off from school. It's called spring break. Before Easter dresses many children out to påskkäringar. They knock at people's houses and wish happy Easter. An Easter old woman is a witch. In older days it was believed that witches on a broom wentto the devil on an island. In Sweden, Easter is the second most important feast after Christmas.

Herring, salmon, eggs and schnapps. Do you recognize it? It sounds like Christmas and Midsummer. We eat almost the same things at every Swedish feast. But on Easter we celebrate the eggs especially. Egg halves filled with roe is one of many varieties of eggs for Easter. Good, quick and easy to cook.

The Easter occurs on different dates every year, which we think many already know.

We live on an island and in our municipality we have a Easter bonfire. It's a tradition and it occurs every year on Easter evening and then many people gather to watch the fire brun. We collect firs and take trees that used to be Christmas trees, from each other. Every island has its own bonfire and there are also firecrackers this evening.

SWEDEN

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TURKEY

In Turkey although Muslims are a majority and Muslim culture is dominant , we have Christian citizens celebrate Easter. But there is a great diversity of Christian traditions. Because here are Orthodox and Catholic , and also Protestant people. Christians have been celebrating Easter involving food and cooking, feasting, and various other practices for centuries.

For example Easter ceremony is held at Kırklar Church in Mardin city on every first Sunday after the first 14th day of the moon (the Paschal Full Moon).

TURKEY

Happy Easter in ten languagesFrance “Joyeuses Pâques!”French Guiana “Joyeuses Pâques!”Germany “Frohe Ostern!”Greece “kalo pasxa!” Καλό Πάσχα!”Italy “Allegro Pasqua!”Poland “Wesołego Alleluja!”Slovakia “Veselá Veľká Noc!” Spain “Feliz Pascua!”Sweden “Glad Påsk!”Turkey “Neşeli Paskalya!”

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S.S)“ is a Comenius project that joined 10 European countries in an attempt to fight

against stereotypes, xenophobia and its aim is developing a better knowledge of our different cultural heritages, raising awareness of cultural

identity in a local, national and European context. Encouraging, through ongoing contact with other people and cultures, a positive view of European citizenship. Encouraging solidarity

and open-mindedness among the different cultures, including the opportunity to make

friends with people from other countries and cultures.

Mrs.Sandrine BOITIERE KILANI, Magali RAVEL and Annette SOKOLOWSKI - Lycée Henri Bergson, Paris, FRANCEMrs. Sandra MACABRE - Collège La Canopée, Matoury, FRENCH GUIANA

Ms. Birgit DRUBE-BLOCK - Haupt- und Realschule Grasberg/Worpswede mit Standort Worpswede, GERMANYMrs. Athanasia KRIKONI- 1o Gymnasio Palamas, Palamas Karditsa, GREECE

Mrs. Giuseppa PICCOTTI - Scuola Secondaria I Grado "Mastro Giorgio", Gubbio, ITALYMrs. Katarzyna ŁASTAWIECKA - Fundacja Szkolna, Warszawa, POLAND

Mrs. Gabriela KRÍŽOVSKÁ - Základná škola s materskou školou, Jarná ulica 3168/13, Poprad, SLOVAKIAMiss Carmen LOZANO ACEDO - Colegio Nuestra Señora del Carmen, Badajoz, SPAIN

Mrs. Zenita NORDBERG - Brattebergsskolan Öckerö kommun, Öckerö, SWEDENMr. Yasin SEVIM - Hasan Zeki Boz Anadolu Lisesi, Uşak, TURKEY

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