Snowboarding outside Novgorod's Kremlin
Sledding is a traditional part of the Maslenitsa celebration, the Russian way of kicking off Lent. The week’s tradition also includes making a Maslenitsa figure out of straw and burning it to hasten the start of spring.
I joined a folk singing and dancing group in Novgorod, following in the footsteps of the other St. Olaf students who studied here on Fulbright grants, so we’ve been preparing for Maslenitsa for the last month. They’re called “Krugovina,” Last Saturday we tromped out to a field on the outskirts of town to gather straw for our Maslenitsa. On Tuesday, she took shape:
Nearly finished product
Sunday will be the big concert day, so I’ll post some burning scarecrow pictures then.
