13

Romania, Bucharest, Train Station North, Hall number 13.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Encounter

Two generations, face to face.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Kisses

There is a saying: "the train station has seen more sincere kisses than the marriage office", I didn't count to know for sure, but I know if you go to the train station, for every departing train you can see at least one kiss.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

GIMPing

I got some homework to do: photoshopping some animal pictures, but since I don't like Photoshop, I used GIMP instead, therefore my action should be called GIMPing.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

The Human Body

Yesterday evening, crossing the Herastrau Park, I meet the guys from The Human Body, flexing their muscles and promoting the exhibition, which is still open at the Antipa Nature History Museum in Bucharest.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Watchdog

Everything is safe, the owner and his goods: the watchdog is taking care.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Some like it hot

Is hot out there... standing next to the flames from the grill.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

To the church!

In a previous post I talked about the cult of the dead in Romanian traditions and religion, a characteristic of those is they are performed most of the time by women, especially old women: they are the ones filling the church, they are the ones carrying the traditions. Here a group of women are bringing ceremonial food to their church.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Cult of the dead

Moșii de vară, meaning something like "the summer old men" is a pre-Christian tradition happening in Romania and is part of the cult of the dead, it has a "sister" called "Moșii de iarnă" ("the winter old men") and some smaller "Saturdays of the dead". Even the name, Moșii show its old origin, this is one of the name attributed to the old Dacian god Zamolxis. There are multiple stories about it, one says the souls of the dead leave their graves 50 days in advance and walk the land, in this day they have to be lured back in their graves with food offering or else... is not clear what happens, maybe the vampires myth placed randomly here was not that random? Another story says about Moși as being the souls of 9 dead men who are protecting the community.

In the classic Christian tradition, the Orthodox church applied the "embrace and extend" strategy here: it put close to it a big religious holiday, the Pentecost, so now Moșii de vară is a big bullet point in their calendar, along with the other celebration of the cult of the dead they embraced. The food was switched to colivă and fruits (is the fruit season).

Still, the embrace does not look that successful, very few Romanians know the meaning of the Pentecost and even the holiday itself is called by other name, "Rusalii", by the name of some female evil spirits hunting for souls - yet another pre-Christian tradition thrown in the mix.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Village beauties

At the Rusalii village fair, these girls turned many boys heads. And, honestly, it was an unexpected sight.

Bonus for my readers, a close portrait of them.

And as I feel in a bonus-giving mood (and trollish a bit), here's another bonus: the village beauties from a few years ago.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Street play

Dust, dung, children playing along, that's a typical village street.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Wheel of fortune

Come and play the wheel of fortune, just one coin and everybody wins something!

If you are lucky (and underage), you may win even a bottle of wine

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Ana are mere - for real now

I explained in a earlier post the meaning of this phrase "Ana are mere" ("Ana has apples"), now finally it was the time for Ana to get some apples.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Supermoon 2013 (minus one day)

Sunday night the sky was a bit hazy, so I couldn't take a clear photo of the supermoon. Good think I played a bit the previous night and captured a picture then... still, quite boring, not that different from the last year's supermoon. Next time if I take a picture again, I promise to be more creative.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Vivant

Bucharest is holding these days a Vivant Statues International Festival, unfortunately I could only catch a glimpse from its first day.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Red Light

The red light means "stop! don't do it". The good news, it is shortly followed by a green light, meaning "go forward".

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

The ice cream truck

Happiness in the neighborhood: a very hot day, but the ice cream truck is here! Just don't ask about "Mister Softee"...

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Duckset

Ducks + Sunset = Duckset, right? or I just invented a word?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Pride

Is not the first time when I see him and also not the first time when I notice the inscription on the side of his cart, it says "Pride"

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.