Guess what started today? Масленица (Maslenitsa) — the week when Russia says goodbye to winter and hello to spring! 🌱 Originally a pagan holiday to celebrate the sun god Yarilo, today it's simply an excuse for most people to eat as many блины (pancakes) as humanly possible 🥞😋 Why pancakes? They look like the sun 🌞 We're basically trying to convince the sun to come back after months of snow and cold. Your Russian phrases of the week: 👉 "С МАсленицей!" = Happy Maslenitsa! 👉 Блин = pancake ⚠️ Warning: This word is also a mild swear word. So if you drop your pancake, you can say "Блин!" and it means both "pancake!" and "darn it!" 🙃 What about you? Do you have a "goodbye winter" tradition in your country?