This book is dedicated to our friends and partners from Greece and Romania.

TOPLICENI TEAM

My name:  Teodora, Rares, Andreea, Mara Sandu, Ana Maria, Tatiana, Mara Tandalache

Our teacher: Rosu Delora Gineta

Our birthplace:  Romania

We love e-Twinning projects and meeting students and teachers from all over the world. We are glad to share our activity with you today!

Today we are going to show you how important traditions are to us  and tell their story.

OR    Romanian people love traditions and their lives are built around them. Since ages, the elders have passed on these traditions to newer generations so they can be preserved and never forgotten. Ana Maria and Marina show you a very traditional object used by children when they go carolling. It is called "buhai" and it has a very specific sound that accompanies traditional Christmas songs.

Holiday Traditions

How  we  celebrate traditions : 

          There is no Christmas without "cozonac" in Romania. It is a special sweet leavened bread, rich in eggs, milk and butter. It is the most favourite desserts that never misses from the table of Christmas. Ana cooked  some delicious  "cozonac "with her mother.

Mara really loves Christmas. She  decorated  the tree and wrote her Cristmas card to Santa. Then she made some delicious sweets and a chocolate cake.

Don't they look great?

    Writing to Santa is no easy task. In Romania, every child  receives his presents in the morning of December 6th. This is the day when  Romanians celebrate St. Nicholas. Traditionally, the gifts are put in their laced up boots.  Do you have the same tradition in your country?        

Hi!

I'm Andreea and I love traditions. I think every kind of  food has its own story. These are stuffed cabbage rolls and they are great for Christmas. Let me know if you need the recipe!

But...not everything related to traditions is about food. Romanian children love going carolling to different houses. Let's see what this means ....

TTTTTThere is no better place like the traditional village to observe the Romanian cultural  heritage.  Children go carolling on Christmas Eve and are often accompanied by instrumentalists.  The Bear dance, the Masked carolers and the Goat are a must to see. Did you know the Bear dance is of Dacian origins? The traditions of the Goat and of the Masked people go back hundreds of years and they are meant to scare off the old year. 

Hi! I'm Teodora. Let me show you some photos of me while going carolling. This is the Bear dance.

Goat dancers and carollers

    Teodora has  discovered many traditional objects in her grandma's house. All of them are tied to traditions and rural life. Here you can see her sewing some old fabrics together with thread and learning to do it from her grandma. Did you know the sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution?

The sewing machine Teodora is showing you is very old, it is not electrically powered  and it has a foot operated treadle mechanism. 

Hi! My name is Rares. I love traditions and I try to visit as many as places as I can and learn about them. This is the room of one of the greatest Romanian writers , Ion Creanga. It is located in his traditional house which is now a museum. It is filled with traditional tools, pots and fabrics once used by the writer.

    In Romania there are still communities of people that keep true to their origins. There are many crafts and occupations  that still run in the families of people in Romanian countryside. The objects you can see in these pictures  are  made by students  of our school.

    The craft of making wooden spoons is a tradition that is learnt from generation to generation. They are decorated with traditional motifs and symbolize abundance. These spoons were painted by my schoolmates. The traditional craft of Romanian pottery has been included in the UNESCO heritage. These pots are made of clay.

The story of our school museum is a long one. It was once owned by a rich family. Nowadays it houses old traditional objects donated by villagers.