Winter Holidays

1/7/2012: Orthodox Christmas

Because Moldova is Eastern Orthodox, for religious holidays they use the Julian calendar. This means that Christmas falls on the 7th of January and not the 25th of December. The celebration was pretty low key. On Saturday (Christmas), we went to my host mother's parents' house. They live in another village so my host mother's brother gave us a ride. We ate at their house and then some of the children sang carols in Romanian. Also on Christmas, children came by the house and sang carols.After the children sing, they are given candy, cookies, and a few Moldovan lei. Some of the children were good and some did not sing very well.

The following day, we went to my host father's parent's house in Cotova. I had been to their house before. We ate some food and then went home.

1/13/2012-1/14/2012: Milanca and Old New Year's

On Friday was the holiday called Milanca. Young people from the village went around the town dressed up in costumes. They also sang. I saw them at the school when they stopped by. It reminded me of Halloween a little bit. I was surprised that a large number of the young people seemed to be wearing military uniforms. Either way, it was interesting.

1/14/2012:

Because Moldova uses the Julian calendar for some of the major holidays, they celebrate two New Years.' They celebrate New Years on January 1st and January 14th. On Old New Years, children come by and throw seeds of various kinds and wish the person they are visiting good fortune for the new year. In return, they are given money and candy. It seemed strange to me that they were given money. On Saturday, I also saw people dressed up walking down the street in front of my house. Apparently New New Years' is a bigger deal and I hope to be in Moldova for it next year.