I looked like the total American trying to walk into a Coop Supermarket on Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. Nothing was open. I should have known better. It was Holy Thursday. Switzerland basically shuts almost down everything from Thursday night to Tuesday morning. So if you're out of milk, you almost have to suffer for 4 full days. Unless you go to gas station mini market. Then you have to buy the cheap milk, with all the fat and lactose in it. So you don't have to really suffer that much if you don't want to.
Mr. Wild Dingo was like "Holy Thursday? What's that?" He didn't suffer through years of religious education, like me. I'll never forget my first (U.S.) employer laughing when I mentioned having Easter Monday off. It's not like I really understood why Christians took that day off. In fact, I'm pretty sure I thought a free work day was the reward for 40 days of suffering. Double kudos for the free day being a Monday. So much for all that religious education.
Every year in college I'd give up cursing for Lent. As if. You can tell I totally grasped the meaning of suffering.
We took advantage of the gorgeous day and spent Good Friday in Morges, tulip-gazing and ice cream-eating with the rest of the Swiss who had nothing else to do. Feeling a bit of nostalgia for the Lent I no longer practice, I went for only one scoop of ice cream, shared with Loki, instead of two. That should count for some suffering, right?
And here I am, twenty years later, still creatively looking for ways to avoid suffering.
I always felt left out because all the Catholics at school were suffering during Lent and I wasn't so sometimes I decided to suffer too but then I would say, "WTF am I doing this for?"
BTW - you look amazing lately. I think this Swiss life agrees with you.
Mango Momma
I gave up being Catholic for Lent some years ago -
It worked out furry well for me 😉
Khyra sends Hopz&Khysses
Looking great Julie!
Happy Easter. 🙂
Love,
Homer
Well, as I sit here on my day off for Easter Monday, I have to admit I didn't suffer much this Lent, except that I really hate Lent, and went to church anyway. I think of it as my reward for the extra cooking, shopping for chocolate, and filling Easter baskets at the crack of dawn on Sunday. Both the four of you and the tulips, look great!
pretty tulips!
It wasnt me who told you about Flor Essence... what is that?
Oh, I can see you suffering there! Looks like Mr. Wild Dingo is, too! lol
Between the Catholics and the Calvinists, looks like the Swiss once again have every angle covered to avoid levity. These days, Easter in the U.S. seems to be mostly marked by ABC's airing the 1950's version of The Ten Commandments [technically a Passover film, of course], Easter baskets and, in this area, the White House Easter Egg Roll. We got a hard boiled egg each; mama got a chocolate Easter bunny. We think the Swiss must have been in charge of our Easter this year.
Jed & Abby