Dedication of the Refurbished Canteen

On another note, teachers' meetings have taken a turn for the more interesting. In the past two weeks there have been two saint's days which were more cocktail party than anything I would have imagined. Apparently, Saints Michael and Gabriel are the patron saints of Gura Humorului. These saints have a lot of pull in Europe. There is an interesting Name Day tradition that if you are named for a saint, then you celebrate your "name day" on the saint's day. It is like having an extra birthday. Nothing is left uncelebrated here in Eastern Europe. It is wonderful to be able to look on the bright side of life. I just wish I knew when these things were coming so I would be prepared. Or maybe less prepared is a better way to put it. I am ready for class and then there is no class to be ready for. In their honor, school is unofficially dismissed at 11 in the morning and a huge spread is laid out for the staff. The announcements are written in chalk in the Teacher's Room in each building for everyone to see and take note of. Unfortunately, I can only read English, not Romanian. I ask every week if there is something I should know about and usually they say no. And so I seldom know about these other events so I am usually caught off-guard.

Tuesday, there was a mandatory staff meeting for the dedication of the refurbished canteen. Initially the staff was herded into the Teacher's Work room. We waited until we were told to report to the canteen and so we went. When we arrived, it was absolutely lovely. There were table decorations everywhere. When we were finally assembled, the priests set about blessing the building, the kitchens, and the staff by name. There were the two staff priests who teach religion and a cantor I did not recognize. This was a very elaborate ceremony, involving the blessing of the building with holy water splashed around on a lavender twig. Candles were lit and bread was given to each table representing the north, south, east, and west sides of the building. This dedication involves much singing and chanting, candles and incense, genuflecting and blessings. We faced east for part of the service. It was really quite elaborate, but interesting.

Finally, the canteen was blessed. Then we turned to the delicious hors d'oevres and wines on the table. There was regional blueberry wine, an excellent Romanian wine, twika, and I lost track what else. All very good. I tasted each one to be sure. The Romanian wine was especially good. My glass was kept full as the dinner arrived. Wonderful roast pork and vegetables. Then dessert. Can you imagine that I could not finish it because I simply had no room for it!! This was a splendid affair.

Throughout dinner there was a three piece band playing traditional music. Each of the band members had graduated from Alexandru cel Bun and so it was old home week for them. They really were quite good. As the dinner dishes were cleared away the Director took to the dance floor and started the evening's festivities. We danced the rest of the night away.

And then we all had 8 o'clock classes in the morning. I am getting to thoroughly enjoy this Romanian system of education.