Romania Edition
Ano Nuevo leads today's complete edition for Romania.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
The calendar flips and every Argentine household is eating vitel tone, the cold sliced beef with tuna sauce that somehow became the definitive New Year dish. Toasts happen with cider, not champagne, and the pan dulce from the panaderia sits half-eaten on the counter until someone finishes it off at merienda the next day.
The whole country moves slow after last night's festivities. Sydney Harbour fireworks are still playing on every TV, and someone's dad is already firing up the barbie for a leftovers lunch. Recovery happens poolside or beachside, thongs on, cold tinny in hand.
National holiday. The dzezva comes out before noon because Bosnians do not nurse hangovers with water. By afternoon someone has already proposed kafa at a kafana and you will not see your couch again until evening. Every New Year starts the same way: with good intentions about being productive and a coffee that turns into four hours.
Jordan observes the Gregorian new year, and Amman celebrates with fireworks over the Citadel and family gatherings. The new year is a secular holiday in a country that observes both Islamic and Christian calendars, and the celebration is inclusive: Muslims, Christians, and Druze all celebrate, and the only thing that is not inclusive is the traffic.
The Romanian new year begins with fireworks over Piata Unirii in Bucharest, and the traditional meal of sarmale (cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice), mamaliga (polenta), and cozonac (sweet bread with nuts and cocoa). The sarmale is the national dish of Romania, served at every important occasion: weddings, funerals, and the new year. The new year is a time of renewal, and the tradition is to clean the house, pay off debts, and start fresh. In rural areas, the Sorcova : a decorated branch : is used by children to tap neighbors gently while reciting blessings for health and abundance. In Maramures, men dress as bears (ursi) and dance through the streets to ward off evil spirits, a tradition rooted in pre-Christian Dacian rituals.
You see the Cypriot mouflon sheep on the Troodos mountains, the endemic Cyprus mouse and various Mediterranean reptiles like the Cypriot grass snake. You notice that Cypriot families predominantly keep dogs, cats, and rabbits as household companions. ACADA celebrates the world's pets, and helps assure better care.