ROMANIAN EASTER

Ok, this is Mihaela's entry (I don't know her - so don't ask for phone number) but I really liked what she said :

"May 1st is sort of a national holiday at home. It used to be some communist holiday when people would get a free day and go do whatever they wanted to do (which wasn't much, considering there wasn't anything to do ) For the past 15 years it's been more of a student's holiday - everybody's getting on trains/cars/busses and goes to the seaside, where mainly nothing happens other than drinking, dancing and drinking. The whole seaside strip is a big party and it's not such a bad picture, really. I personally got tired of it after a couple of years...but well...some don't, ever. Today however is the Orthodox Easter. Easter is somewhat a more important celebration than Christmas, in the Orthodox world. Probably because it's more about the sacrifice that saved us and it's considered more important than the Birth itself. At midnight Sat/Sun people go to church to attend the Easter Service. And come home with a lit candle, symbol of light, of life, rebirth to be more precise. After fasting for weeks, they get to enjoy the Easter food, knock the red Easter eggs and spend time with the family. Then they go to sleep and resume the eating at lunch, when the more extended family would usually gather. It's a weird holiday because it's not really a happy one. It's not sad either, it's...serious, I guess. You don't celebrate sacrifice, you acknowledge it and respect it. But I've always felt most inappropriate, I guess because it is the most obvious time to be confronted with the truth, what we call value, compromise and the choices that we make for ourselves. For me this year I think it is about being at peace with whatever I have and I am, right now. " And that is the mature way to say something about this day."