Maslenitsa! Nowadays its a celebrations similar to Carnaval, its a week of celebrations and feasting before the beginning of Пасха (Lent). But Maslenitsa is a much more ancient holiday with its origins laying in the pre-christian, pagan times when it was a holiday to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring, as as to ask the god Veles for a good harvest in the coming year. People generally celebrate by spending time with their families, attending festival activities, having snowball fights (as well as real fights), and by trying to gorge themselves into a blini coma . (like crepes) The time is also considered to be an especially good time for marriages and there are many weddings. Its is considered to be a very liberating time for Russians. Traditionally, families prepare straw effigies in which they place all their troubles and negative emotions. At the end of the week, these effigies are burned to symbolize both the release of these negative emotions but also to chase away winter with the smoke.

My Maslenitsa was a wonderful experience. I went to the nearby town of Suzdal to enjoy the festivities there and after. I got to explore the various markets, saw some street performers, and had some great food. But the best part was when I found a stall that was owned by a man who was a leather worker. He shared his store with a blacksmith friend and the two created items with old Slavic and Pagan themes. I knew at that moment that fate had decreed that we should be friends and I ended my day by talking, drinking самагон (Russian moonshine), and playing around with some of Gleb's (my new friend)  swords and armor. Now Gleb is helping me to find a Шашка of my own.