Romania is a beautiful European country and it is a member of the European Union. Like any other country, it has its own history and its own culture. For example, did you know that Romanians have their own traditional Valentine’s Day? It’s called “Dragobete” in Romanian and is celebrated on February 24th. Girls usually receive snowdrops from boys. Another holiday loved by girls is celebrated on the 1st of March. It’s called “Mărţişor”, which actually means “little March”. On this day, girls receive little talismans that have a red and white string. They can wear it as a brooch for several days.
Romanian culture has plenty of fairytales that you’d love to hear. One of the greatest fairytales collectors was Petre Ispirescu. He gathered stories from elder people and rewrote them. That’s how these stories survived and children can still enjoy them to this day. Dragons, princes and princesses, places where people stay young forever, golden apples that need to be protected – all these are part of Romanian fairytales. The fight between good and evil is always present. But, don’t worry! Good always wins.
You’re probably wondering: what about Dracula? Well, Dracula is another great story. But that’s all. There are no such things as vampires and there never were. The idea took birth because of Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler), a Romanian ruler, also known as Vlad Dracul. Writer Bram Stoker thought it would be a great name for his vampire story. But we’ll learn more about Vlad Dracul later.
Great stories are not the only interesting thing from the Romanian culture. Writers, painters, sculptors, musical composers and actors made Romania an internationally known country.
And let’s not forget about food! Romanian food is diverse. It has salty, sweet, sour and spicy dishes. Romanians like to eat and they’re not afraid to use spices. However, food is prepared differently in various parts of the country. But you’ll definitely want to try the “sarmale”. It sounds strange, but actually it’s a combination of pork and beef, or just pork. The meat is then mixed with rice and wrapped in cabbage leaves.
Online Romanian lessons for kids: dinolingo.com