Easter traditions are everywhere here in Novgorod.  The highlight of the Easter day is difficult to pinpoint, because I had the great pleasure of ringing the bells in the belfrey of the Cathedral of St. Sophia, at the top of the Kremlin, overlooking the river.  Whoa, the resonation and vibes that moved through my body as we played.  Tatiana Berford's son Yasha (James) is a bell ringer there and rang along with 2 other professional bell ringers  immediately following the Easter service at this thousand year old Russian Orthodox church. The priests and monks were dressed in red and gold, in contrast to the black and silver they wore earlier this week. After the service, we women released ourselves from underneath our heavy scarves and everyone moved out of the church in a procession behind the robed clergy, hollering  "Christ is Risen" with big smiles.  Amidst tourists and devout alike, the ringers played beautiful music significant because of the church chant tunes, Russian folk songs like The Little Birch Tree" and even the Ukranian Christmas Carol Americans know as "Carol of the Bells" on the bells up in the belfrey and down below on the ground.

But hearing and participating in the ringing was not the only magical event. People that I knew greeted each other with the phrase
"Christ is Risen!"

Христос воскрес!

 followed by the reply, "Indeed, Christ is
Risen!" and then kissed three times on the cheek.  Gift exchange followed. One of my colleagues from the university surprised me when I recognized her up at the top of the tower, and then she descended with my greeting and gift.  Fortunately, Tatiana had already prepared me for such an event, but unfortunately, I didn't have my usual 50 times practicing the phrase I was supposed to call back, so my response was Indeed, a little glitchy!  So now, 2 days later, I'm able to respond, and the great thing is that the greeting contiues all week, as do the little gifts.  I'm still getting them...today, I got a little 1 inch porcelin chicken.

Music students at the university demonstrated their conducting skills during choir practice yesterday. They all have a final exam next week, so the choral director gave them some tips and then I went shopping for Dennis' hat.  If you know Dennis, you know that shopping for his hat is no small thing.  The one I found is made of birchwood, and the souvenirs in Novgorod made of birchwood are representative of a village nearby where the villagers prevented complete annihilation from the Monguls many years ago by giving the raiders all the precious goods(metals, jewels, etc).  This left nothing to rebuild homes and lives with, except the plentiful birch and apspen forest all around.  The houses in the historical village looks to my American eyes something like the house that Red Riding Hood's grandmother lived in the 2011 film "Red Riding Hood", with the downstairs available for cattle and the living space of the home upstairs with a loft for sleeping children.

Children from other areas of Russia arrived yesterday to compete in a musical festival honoring Rachmaninoff.  The festival was kicked off with a ceremony near the Rachmaninoff statue, complete with mayor and introduction of judges.  The judges wished all the children and youth competitors good luck and told them to play from their hearts, express themselves and play their music with love.  Those sentiments are the same ones I have from music educators when observing lessons in schools and at the university.

If you have ever been in the situation where someone says a really interesting word that just sounds totally cool and subsequently you found out it means something relevant in your own life, then you know exactly the depth of my joy when I learned the new word for today....Garmoska.  Pronounce it like gar-moosh-kah! (Accent the middle syllable). It is one of the two oft-used terms for an accordion in these parts.  The other is "bayan"  due to it's connection with Russian bards from the 11th century.  I should already have known both of those terms, being a quote/unquote world music professor, but until you hear something in context, you just miss so much!