March - Women's Week

I had no idea there was an International Women's day! But, as a matter of fact, it was last Saturday (March 8). Women are so wonderful, it's not enough to celebrate women just one day, let's make it a whole WEEK. And let's start with March 1st, in celebration of Spring and all things new. Here in Romania, it's called Martisor [Martee-shor] "little March". All women are given a gift on the 1st and 8th of March (flowers, candy, and little tokens like the one pictured below). Especially symbolic is the red and white strands of thread, symbolizing/summarizing an ancient tale of the beginning of Spring.

(Pic - A Martisor gift)
The legend goes that the Sun takes human form and comes to earth to celebrate with the people. But a dragon follows him to earth and captures the Sun. The Earth becomes cold, without vegetation, birds singing....total desolation. So a brave man fights the dragon and saves the Sun, but the dragon is so powerful that the brave man has too many wounds and with the last drop of his blood, he dies. But he dies with the knowledge that he has brought back life and Spring. To symbolize this heroic deed, two strands of thread of white and red are wound together. White represents purity and good health. Red represents the blood shed for Life and a love for all that is beautiful. Together this has become a symbol of love in Romania which the men give to women during Martisor, the 1st of March. Neat, huh!
The Gazda men here gave me flowers, a pin, a necklace, and the token above. Yes, I felt quite special! :) Nils also gave me a gift of sweets, which I shared with him.