Starved and scared to death of some Primark airline which was supposed to take me back home, I ordered a vegetarian breakfast with extra mushrooms, toast without butter and without eggs but with a pint of Stella instead of a cup of tea. An unshaved and unsteady guy from some oil field, until now a very pleasant gentleman who let me order before him, suddenly burst out laughing.
I didn’t mind.
It was 6 o’clock in the morning in some midget airport far away from anything that resembled England. He was in such a bad state that the effect of my carefully selected vegetarian breakfast followed by a pint of Stella was not any concern of mine. Anyway didn’t he understand the concept of fasting?
I don’t.
It makes me grumpy, miserable, and very frustrated but I feel I need to do it to make me feel a better person. I starve myself day in and out and curse everybody around me but I won’t give up, I have to prove to myself that I can do it. The problem is that the goal posts are moving all the time making me more miserable. And hungry. Originally my fasting was based on not eating meat and then when I started talking about my sacrifices, I shamefully realised there is much more involved in the process of fasting. In order to redeem myself as a hard core sinner I stopped eating not just meat but eggs, cheese, milk… The only thing I couldn’t give up was a pint of Stella.
Am I a sinner?
Of course.
I’ve always been and during the Lent fast I am still a sinner! My church is Eastern Orthodox and we use incense during the liturgy which disappeared from the Western Churches a long time ago. We don’t buy Easter eggs at Tesco or petrol stations on Easter Sunday, we dye boiled eggs and paint them in bright colours on Good Friday. We have certain rules which we try to observe and some of us manage to obey. I don’t.
We Eastern Orthodox souls may be locked in the past but we still want pay rises to buy a nice car, or go on a nice holiday with all lush extras such as a Jacuzzi in the room. Or spend the entire month’s salary on a good case of Chardonnay…we do indulge ourselves…we do lie, get divorced…have affairs…we are human…and we do fast…at least we try to!
Happy Easter! What did you give up for Lent 2013?
About the author: Tara
The travel professional with years of experience in the travel industry – in guiding, reservations, operations, contracting, customer service and product development – and have travelled extensively in Asia and Eastern Europe not just on holiday but also for work, inspecting hotels, visiting attractions and seeing exactly what each destination has to offer. The only way I could do this properly was with my own guide, car and driver and this inspired me to create my own range of customised private day tours for other people to be able to explore in-depth and learn to love their destination as much as I do.
Website: www.readyclickandgo.com
Website: http://www.readyclickandgo.com
