Easter's for mimosas

Friends cooking brunch. There's a mimosa to the left.

Whenever Christians give something up for lent, my mother taught me that we were supposed to keep it secret and not to talk about it because Christ spoke against public displays of righteous suffering. The fast is supposed to be between us and God and not everyone else, but I found it difficult not talking about givnig up alcohol last February. Everytime I ordered a hot chocolate or water after all my friends ordered pints of lager, the bartender would roll his eyes or shake his head. Some friends were confused and thought I didn't drink. When they found out it was for lent, they then asked if I'm Catholic and were confused when I told them I'm Protestant. Most Protestants were especially confused because they rarely heard of a Protestant giving up something for lent. My Armenian/Russian Orthodox friends said I gave up too little because lent was supposed to emphasize suffering: they all had to give up eating any animal products including meat, chicken, milk, eggs, and cheese. Long story short, I found it difficult to keep lent secret while at St Andrews, especially since every night or so we went to the pub. I did save money, though (but I then spent that money on afternoon coffees when I studied).

This past Sunday marked the end of lent with Easter, but I didn't go to church. I generally don't care much about going to church on Easter Sunday because everyone who doesn't go to church goes to church then. Back home we called those Christians who never went to church except for Christmas and Easter, "C-n'-E. Christians." Instead of church, I joined some friends for an Easter brunch, which actually started at 1 pm because it took so long to cook everything. One friend cooked a Swiss version of pancakes, and we also had quiche, fruit, sausages, hash browns, and French toast (one Scottish friend put salt instead of powder sugar or syrup on the French toast- we heckled him for this faux-pas). I didn't cook, but I did bring mimosas, which I thought was an important addition since I was breaking lent this morning (actually, I broke lent once when I had dinner at a brewery in Sarajevo, but I was at a freaking brewery in freaking Sarajevo- it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience; that dark beer was one of the best beers I've ever had; since I live in St Andrews, I'd consider breaking lent only once not a small achievement). As soon as I got to my friend's flat at 11 am, we broke into the champagne bottle and orange juice. Another friend brought a second bottle, and we finished all of the mimosas by noon. I believe mimosas are a drunkard's excuse for drinking in the morning. Some other friends arrived later with white wine and mango juice, but I didn't try their "mang-wine." I rarely have mimosas, but I must say they would make a nice Easter tradition.