"Here we have an outhouse problem, but keep that a secret."

Sunday I attended by first Cumetrie (Baptism Feast). The director of the school invited me to her daughter's celebration and I was honored to go. The holiday started at 1pm and I had to call it quits by 10.25 or so pm. The party was still going strong and the people were dancing a long time after I was in bed.
In America, we don't have a big celebration for our children's baptism. Here, it is the party of the year. There was a live band that played traditional Moldovan music. It was a treat for me, I don't think I have heard live music since I have been here. Maybe one time. To begin the celebration everyone gathers around a table and the God-parents begin to place their presents on the table. They aren't wrapped, but proudly shown so that everyone knows what is given and how much. Soon, the table is overflowing with clothes, toys, and blankets. Now it is time to eat!
All the guests arrived to wonderfully full tables at the school, filled with different salads, meats, fruits, vodka, cognac, house wine, champagne, and water (for the wussies). It is always great for me to see EVERYONE dancing together. Back home, only the young people dance at celebrations, or the people dance with hesitation. Here, men, women, old, young, really old...they all dance with such enthusiasm. At one point, Blue Suede Shoes was played and everyone started doing the twist and swing dancing. One guy was extremely into his dancing, swinging his arms around and puckering up his face in concentration.
At a Cumetrie there are several pairs of God-parents. At this particular Cumetrie, there were around 9...I lost count. Everyone says nice words about the child and the parents and wishes the family a bright future. Dancing, eating, drinking, celebrating lasts for about five hours.
Next comes another batch of food placed on the table, this time lamb and meatballs in mushroom cream sauce. It was all delicious! After the hot food and more dancing (of course) a team is gathered to present big rings of bread and presents to the God-parents. The team dances around with the bread high above their heads and arrives at each pair to present them with their gifts. Then begins the "let's give money" phase. Starting with the God-parents, each pair presents money to the family but not before saying a few (or a lot) of well wishes. They also make it known how much money they are giving (God-parents usually $200-$400...yes $) to the guests. This continues until everyone in the room has spoken and presented money. There were about 50-60 people at the celebration, so you can imagine how long that took. Afterwards, everyone toasts to the family and the dancing continues. That is when I called it quits and took my tired feet home.
I met many wonderful people at the Baptism feast. I met a merry man while preparing myself coffee at the desert table. There is a famous book (famous in Moldova and among volunteers here), "Playing the Moldovans at Tennis." I have yet to find the book in our PC library because it is always in demand and bouncing from one person to another. I heard it is excellent and a must read for anyone who has stayed here for a long time, maybe travelled here, but mildly interesting for those who have no idea about this country. So I meet this man, who happens to be a large man in an organization in Chisinau that helped fund our Kinesthetic room for students with disabilities. The man that wrote the book stayed with him in Chisinau during his stay and wrote about him in the book. I was in the presence of a celebrity! I was ashamed to say that I haven't read the book but I was sure to make my desire known. We began discussing Moldova and how I am enjoying it. Then he begins talking about the outhouses. He says they are disgusting and not healthy and that he hates him. Before parting ways for the evening he made me make a pact with him not to tell anyone this problem...it would be our little secret.