This was a wet day! We were SO glad that our hiking day was yesterday!
We left the fair town of Medora in the morning and began our trek eastward. We stopped in Dickinson at the Ukrainian Cultural Institute. I really had no idea what to expect but it was really interesting.
My Grandpa Moldenhauer’s family emigrated from Odessa, Russia, which is in present-day Ukraine. They actually settled here in North Dakota for a time before moving to Idaho so I thought it would be interesting to stop and learn some more about that heritage here in the state.
We were the only people there and the sweet lady running things showed us around and had us watch a movie about “pysanky”. I wish I could remember everything that was in the movie because it was really fascinating.
They make these beautiful eggs and we just assumed that they were painted {which would still be amazing} but they are actually made completely out of wax through multiple layers. It began as a pagan tradition but as Christianity spread through Ukraine the symbolism on the eggs began to mean different things.
They were beautiful and we appreciate them so much more after learning how much work went into them!
