Traditions which announcing the spring

As you probably know on 14th Febrary it's the St. Valentine's day, a celebration of love in which you give a present like chocolate or flowers to the person or people you love. This celebration is internacional, but do you know that in Romania they have another day to celebrate the love? Yes, there is.

On 24th Febrary in Romania people celebrate "Dragobete", the love's day. This tradition is related with the Roman Empire and the dacians.

According to myth, Dragobete was the son of Baba Dochia, a woman who stands for the main character in the pagan myth related to spring arrival and the end of the harsh winter.

The day is also known as “the time when birds are betrothed” because during this time of year, birds generally build their nests and mattes.

On this day, considered locally the first day of spring, boys and girls gather vernal flowers and sing together.

This day annonced the arrival of spring but the oficial day that the spring begin is on 1st March, knowed like Mărțișor.

In the history, this celebration ir related with the Roman Empire too, but also it's considered with Daco-Thracian origin.

Mărțișor is the diminutive of marț, the old folk name for March. (Martie, in modern Romanian), and this literally mean "little March". It is also the folk name for this month.

Mărțișor, marț and mărțiguș are all names for the red and white string from which a small decoration is tied, and which is offered by people on the 1st day of March.

Giving this talisman to people is an old custom, and it is believed that the one who wears the red and white string will be strong and healthy for the year to come. It is also a symbol of the coming spring. 

Usually it wears close to the heart, until the last day of March.

After this introduction about the Romanian traditions in the beginning of Spring I will speak about my experiences with them.

Last Saturday I made mărțișor with smaller childrens in a kindergarten, in company of a Romanian girl called Diana, who was also volunteer like me.

This day was amazing and we learned new things about the culture of Romania.

This week we put in practice the things we learned.
In the  Colonia´s school, a school outside the city, we made mărțișor with the children and we use paper to make flowers.

Also we went to Ionescu school, a school in the city center and we were really welcome for teachers and students.

This is the summary of these intenses weeks in which we discovered new beautiful traditions about Romania that they continue alive like the spring each year.