The Land of Holidays

Moldova: The Land of Holidays

Every week there is a holiday (sarbatoare mare) in Moldova. Today is a religious holiday, something to do with the Church. On holidays, there is to be no work done....riiight. Although today is a big holiday, there is still school. But...
Yesterday in one of my last classes, I had 11th graders. I was explaining to them that there was going to be a test on Friday. There was an uproar and they proceeded to tell me that they wouldn't be in class because they too would be picking apples in the fields with the 9th and 10th graders. I wasn't going to be fooled, I thought they were trying to get out of a test. I told them that I didn't believe them and I went to find out the truth. I asked the assistant director what was going on on Friday and she proceeded to tell me that the 9th 10th and 11th graders were, in fact, going to be with the apples. She pulled out her schedule and informed me that since I had 9th, 10th, and 11th grade classes on Friday, I didn't have to come to school. I was so happy! An unplanned holiday, weee!
Today is also Haram in Chisinau. Haram is the village/city holiday and every village/city has one. Our Haram is November 8th and I am excited. During this holiday (yes, yet another) families cook tons and tons of great Moldovan food, the best Moldovan food they cook the whole year. Then guests come over and visit, eat, and drink before moving onto the next house. Families and friends visit about eight houses that day, depending on who they know, and partake in the festivities. There is dancing, music, and singing in the center of town, and everyone has a great time. On that day, like all the other holidays, there is to be no work. During Haram, there is no school.
So today I set out to go to Ungheni and buy ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. One of my host sisters, Aliona, is leaving for Moscow on Monday and I want to send her off with some goodies. She is going to meet her husband and her father there to work for the remainder of the time until the end of December. My host dad and brother-in-law were only supposed to go there and work, but since there is work over there and a lot of money to be made, they begged Aliona to join them. So starting Saturday night, we are the proud caretakers of Loridana, the niece. Things should go well, since it will begin to get colder and people will stay inside more.
It is getting dark around 7pm and I don't like that. Last night I was dead tired and crawled into bed. I looked at my watch and it was only 8.30. Oh well, I was tired and went to bed anyway. Pretty soon it will be dark at 5pm and I definitely won't know what to do with myself.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful time!