Sărbătorile de iarnă!

Well. As I said before, Moldova has a long winter holiday season (or at least it feels long to me!). There is "new Christmas" on December 25, "new New Year's" on January 1, "old Christmas" on January 7, and old New Year's" on January 14. "Old" Christmas and New Year are referred to as such because they are based on the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar, because the Orthodox Church in Moldova still uses the Julian calendar to determine the dates for holidays. 

But there are also other traditions and celebration days that I did not know about. Which I confess is partly my own fault for not doing the research. It seems like I always learn about these traditions and holidays after the fact by hearing about them from other Peace Corps Volunteers or seeing their Facebook or blog posts. I wish I would know about things ahead of time so I could participate or watch, but at least I've started keeping track so I can next year! In my defense I didn't know what I didn't know, and even seeing the name of a celebration on a calendar doesn't necessarily tell me how my particular community and/or host family might celebrate it. Another complicating factor is that I've been battling a stubborn case of bronchitis for a few months so I've been trying to stay home and rest as much as possible since I got back from traveling at the beginning of the month. 

Walking with Goats
Actually, last Sunday I was invited by a librarian from a village in my raion (district) to come "walking with goats." I was so confused! It's the middle of January and snowed over the weekend, and I couldn't understand what I was being invited to. I couldn't go anyway because I was sick and staying in Chisinau so I could see the Peace Corps doctor. That evening some other PCVs posted pictures of themselves out "walking with goats" and singing carols at neighbors' houses. And then it made sense to me what the librarian had invited me to! I told her I'd like to come another time. I learned that this tradition is called "Uratura de Sfântul Vasile" (St. Basil Wishing). Here is a great video I found that someone posted a few years ago, which based on the poem seems to take place in Mileștii Mici. Like most Moldovan celebrations, it is accompanied by music and poetry, toasts and well wishes, and colac (a traditional bread ring that is given to welcome guests). I don't know if people in my town also participate in Uratura de Sfântul Vasile, or if it just happens in villages. As I mentioned, I was in Chisinau that evening, but I also live with a family that doesn't have young children, and in a neighborhood where there aren't many young children. So I've noticed that traditions I read about on other PCVs' blogs I don't necessarily see happen in my town. Often it seems that if they do happen here, they happen at schools and since I don't work with a school I only see photos and videos shared by other PCVs who work in schools. Many people who live and/or work in my town come from nearby villages and still have family there, so it's also possible that they return to their villages for these types of celebrations. I know that one of my fellow PCV sitemates Valerie was invited by her language tutor to participate in the festivities in her village.

And here are a couple of photos of the fun taken by my fellow PCV Melinda, who lives in a village in my raion:

 a goat! 

Zilei Naționale a Culturii
Another thing I discovered via a Facebook post by the mayor's office is that there was a concert celebrating the National Day of Culture. Darn! I would have liked to go to that, but was staying home to recover from being sick anyway. However, the post mentioned that they plan to make this an annual tradition, so I've got it on my radar for next year! 

Epiphany Bathing
I also learned this week that there is a tradition on "old" Epiphany to cut a cross shape in a frozen lake and walk in, dunk three times, and cross oneself. This is called "Крещенские купания," or Epiphany Bathing. If you click that link you should see a video of this tradition that happened in a lake in my town this year. Oh gosh, it looks so cold! Especially because I watched it while staying home sick. But I really hope to be healthy next winter so I can go see it firsthand. Below is a description of the tradition, via Wikipedia:

The screenshots below are captured from the video that is linked above:

**Edit**

February 2, 2018: 

I just got splattered with holy water... I was sitting at my desk in my room working on my Fall report for Peace Corps, and suddenly heard religious singing. For a minute I thought my host dad was singing, but then my host mom asked if she could open the door, and a priest was standing there singing and splattering me and my room with water! I was very confused, as you might imagine. My host dad explained that it was supposed to happen on Epiphany, but he apparently came late. Haha. Oh Moldova, you are always full of surprises!!

There are probably more traditions and celebrations I missed either while I was on vacation, while I was sick, or simply because I don't live in a village or with children. But the fun of living in a different culture is constantly learning new things, and I am sure that I will find out about more celebrations the longer I am here in Moldova. One celebration I do know about because of having worked with colleagues in Romania at a previous job is the holiday called Marțișor, which is coming up soon at the beginning of March. Look for a post about that in the coming weeks!