Easter Eggs-Ukrainian Style

The mother of one of my students is from Ukraine. When his father did a lesson for my class last week, I learned that it is incorrect to say "The Ukraine." Pysanky is an ancient art form of dying goose eggs in extremely intricate designs. The dyes are made by Ukrainian women in their homes using the secret recipes that are passed down through the generations. The secrets add to the competition for the production of the most beautiful eggs. The method is similar to batik in that the eggs are dyed using wax over the colors already applied. When all the colors have been used to create the design, all the wax is removed. These are the eggs brought to show

The egg below is carved wood with beads inserted in tiny holes.

He brought plastic wraps that can  be shrink-wrapped onto boiled eggs to decorate them with designs in a quick, modern way ---but they are a far cry from the originals. (Think: fat-free, unsalted margarine versus butter.)

He also brought some matryoshka dolls.

Again, I was mistaken in calling them babushka dolls. They are sometimes referred to as babushka dolls here because they are dolls that belonged to a grandmother, a babushka.

It was a fun lesson of a culture far from Florida.