Easter in a Hungarian village has little to do with bunnies.It started with the blood-curdling squeal of the pig being slaughtered next door on Good Friday, followed by the obligatory burning of hair and gushing of guts. Then a similar sound echoed through the village on Saturday.
On the big day, Easter Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of Christ with church and a tasty ham. Friends and family surrounded the table and it was the kind of Easter I grew up with complete with colored eggs, an egg hunt, and chocolate bunnies.
But on Monday, the cross cultural Easter hit the Chun home in full swing, because in Hungary, Monday is the big EASTER day.
My husband was resistant. "I'll turn off the doorbell," he said. "I don't want all that perfume spraying going on. I'm allergic to that stuff." Russ said. It's tradition for boys to spray girls with cologne on Easter Monday. The boys also recite poetry and in return get candy and even money.
Our 11-year-old son, familiar with the custom, did not want to miss out "Daddy, can we go visit the neighbors," he begged, "I have perfume!" My husband rolled his eyes and tried to put it off. But our son kept nagging.
Finally, Russ relented and off they went to the neighbors. Fully two hours later they returned. Our son was glowing with a fist full of Hungarian forint and a bag full of candy and even a plate full of cake! Russ had been so well fed during the visits that he waddled in happily and collapsed on the couch for a nice afternoon nap. When he awoke, he raved about what a great holiday a Hungarian Easter Monday is!
Food, drink and happiness all wrapped up in cabbage rolls stuffed with those slaughtered pigs. It was a grand, delightful Easter Monday and in the future there will be no resistance from the Chun household. With a full stomach followed by a nice nap, Russ declared Hungarian Easter a Chun-garian Tradition!
