Easter

Every year we celebrate Easter. Easter represents the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is how we prepare for Christmas : We clean our houses, we paint the eggs and we prepare traditional food. On Easter day, we go to the church, we crack red eggs and we say “Cristos a inviat!” which means “Christ is risen!” and we answer ”Adevarat a-nviat!” “Indeed He is risen!”. And let’s not forget the Easter Bunny which brings us presents! All the children love him!

EGG DECORATION

A very interesting Easter tradition is the egg decoration.

How to do it :

Wash the egg shell

Wipe the egg with vinegar

Make one or two small holes with a needle and take out the interior of the egg (yolk and white)

Draw a model using  a “condei” (a stick with a metal pointed end) dipped into hot wax.

Introduce the egg into yellow paint (the drawing will remain white)

After it is dried, draw more models then dip the egg into red paint

Dry it again, draw more models and dip it this time into black paint

Put the egg on a radiator and melt the wax

The decorations (the drawings) will remain white, while the egg will have different colours.

 

The decorations are very different and have different meanings. Every year we decorate eggs with our Religion teacher. We even participate to contests!

Martisor

 

“Martisor” (translated as spring amulet) is celebrated in Romania at the beginning of spring, on the first of March.

It celebrates the beginning of spring. The name comes from the name of the month March (“martie” in Romanian and “mart” in old Romanian). We can also find this tradition in Bulgaria (Martenita). It is a very old tradition, coming from pre- Christian times.

“Martisorul” is a traditional talisman, which can represent  anything: a flower, an animal or a chimney sweeper-which brings good luck). On this talisman is attached a red and white string. Red is the colour of fire, blood, and a symbol of life, associated with women, while white is the colour of snow, clouds, and the wisdom of men. The string also represents the contrasts like spring and winter, life and death, war and peace. It protects people from evil and it makes them beautiful and healthy.

Boys give “martisoare” to girls and they wear them. All children, boys and girls give “martisoare” to their mother and teachers. Every year we make “martisoare” with our Art teacher, Diana Lazar, and we wear, give or sell them.

It is a wonderful celebration!