I hope you like pancakes, because that’s what this post is all about

Lithuanian blynai courtesy of lthforum.com

So many pancakes. Every scrap of space on the cheap dorm-room table was covered with Lithuanian blynai: rolled around gooseberry jam, nestled with a type of cottage cheese called värske, or stuffed with meat. In the center of the table towered a crumb-covered rye meal cake, twenty or so layers of alternating sponge and crème. Bottles of juice and beer clinked merrily on a shelf, while my classmates, disguised in peasant skirts, scarves, and wild makeup, stomped and whirled to the music blaring from a CD player.

“Remind me what this is again,” I bawled into Inga’s ear. She smiled and articulated carefully through frosted pink lips: “Shrove Tuesday.”

Shrove Tuesday? There had to be something lost in translation here. It was a dark February night, and I had been settling in for homework and a mug of tea when Inga had burst in and dragged me down the hall for a party. A tall boy with curly blonde hair who a few hours earlier sat beside me listening to a European history lecture now wore blue eye shadow and smeared lipstick under a flowered scarf as he bobbed around the room, snapping up pancakes between dances. 

I didn’t know what sudden madness had caused all the hubbub, but I couldn’t contemplate it for long anyway; my roommate Nomeda pulled me up from my chair, scrawled some lipstick on my face, and flung me into the dance.

As I later learned (but you probably already knew), Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday, is just the traditional celebration which marks the beginning of Lent. This year Fat Tuesday falls on February 21^st. We’ll talk more about Ash Wednesday and Lent and Easter soon, but for now … Share with us about your experiences with Fat Tuesday. Then make some pancakes and put on a little dancing music!