The romanian easter party hath started

Party in romania

Easter is a big event in romania bigger than christmas in the uk, many people here in fact i would go so far to say
more than 99% are religious i know i said i dont want to discuss religion and i dont but i am just stating facts for information
to give an insight into the culture of romanian life.
from an outsider and non too religious persons veiw there are several observations i have made most of which i find peculiar
if not some comical.
the party has officially started today well it started for some last night and will continue on for the next 2 days.
one local guy here cosmin has been permanently ratted since then not sure he will survive the next 2 days he will probably die of alchol poisioning

there are a lot of traditions here one very common at any time is the drinking of local hooch there are many names for it
most common are Tuica and palinka or to be more descriptive fire water
plum brandy, almost neat alcohol well they say 60% i think nearer 80% depending on who makes it
nearly every house has its own stash, if you meet somone for the first time or go to a house it is without question you will be ordered to drink a shot or many more with your host
to not consume the entire glass is considered very bad as it is supposed to bring bad luck on the host and his house,
so drink it like a shot of tequila for 2 reasons one you wont prolong the agony of tasting it and second you will not look like a cissy and you will impress your host some.
beware you may wish to consume a vast amount of water after this so i suggest making sure you at least have a glass of coke or similar handy first.

only a few glasses of this stuff will knock out even the most hardend drinker trust me,after you have tried it its ok to refuse another.
it is also considered rude not to accept anything when visiting a house even a glass of water is ok but take somthing its more polite.
if visiting on an invitation if possible if you have the time bring a bottle of wine or somthing to drink like a few beers, also for the lady of the house if you are invited to eat there
a nice gesture is one or three flowers Always give an odd number of flowers.

back to the party mode
tradition in this village is when men get drunk at a bar or party they have the world wide affliction of wanting to eat late at night
whilst drunk, not having fast food establishments such as in the uk kebab houses and KFC and curry houses, the next best thing here is to find
somone in the group who has an available chicken to slaughter there and then, the said bird is unceromoniously killed and plucked de gutted and cooked rapidly
whilst more drinking is undertaken, with the speed of cooking not taking long the bird is consumed faster than it could have run,all that remains are head feet and feathers,and the odd bone.

 so 12 hrs benders are not uncommon here,most romanians dont drink vast amounts of beer or alcohol in the main they are fairly small drinkers.

there are of course the complete drunks to be found everywhere, but the record here for drink driving is very good they just dont do it
they will lose the licence and be fined and be put in jail, so a word of warning if you drive here just dont take a drink the limit here is ZERO
its taken very seriously by the police,and any one caught gets there picture put up for all to see and an anouncement in the local paper too.
a car is a precious thing here as getting around is not so easy without one.