MY COUNTRY ROMANIA

Romania is located in Eastern Europe. Romania is bordered by Ukraine and Moldavia to the north, Bulgaria to the south, and Hungry and Serbia to the west. Romania has a shoreline on the Black Sea to the east. Romania is 92,000 sq. miles, which is about the size of Michigan in the United States.

Christmas-Cracian (crah-chew-n)

Grandma-Bunica (boo-nee cah)

Walnut sweet bread-Cozonac cu nunca (cozo-nak coo noon-cah)

Romania is mostly a Christian country. Christian holidays, such as Christmas and Easter are very important to the Romanian people. Christmas is very important to kids because they like to sing, eat special holidays dishes, and give gifts. On Easter Christian Romanians attend church. A special meal on Easter Sunday is common in many families.

Celebrations and festivals are held throughout the year in Romania. These events are important because the Romanian people honor their diverse cultural history. Young people celebrate by wearing the same costumes, performing the same dances and enjoying the same music as their ancestors. These festivals help Romania stay unique from other European countries. Some examples of Romanian celebrations are: National Festival of Easter Eggs, International Short Film Festival, Festival of Traditional Music and Dance, Romanian Design Week, Festival of Folk Dance and Music, and Festival of Christmas Traditions and Parade.

In the major cities, the majority of people wear Western style clothing. In the rural (country) areas, some people still wear traditional clothing. Traditional clothing for men and boys are white pants and shirt, a vest, a wool/leather belt, a cap/hat, and black boots. Women and girls wear a white shirt, a wool skirt, vests and black shoes. Both men and women wear sashes and vests, which are embroidered in bright colors. The embroidery pattern on their vests/sashes varies by region. Romania has a heavy French influence on their traditional clothing. Traditional clothing is especially worn on special occasions, such as a wedding.

Some popular dishes of Romania are: spicy sausage, eggs, cheese, regional salads, soups, stuffed cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers. For dessert, pastries, pancakes and sweet breads are popular.

INGREDIENTS

• Yeast
• Pecans and Walnuts
• Flour
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Milk
• Butter
• Vanilla Extract
• Cocoa Powder
• Raisins
• Lemon zest

To the left is my dad. In the middle is Bunica, my grandma, and Aunt Ari is on the right. My dad and Aunt Ari are brother and sister. They were all born in Romania. My dad lived there until he was 12-years old, and Aunt Ari lived there until her early 20's. Bunica came to the United States for the first time to visit us in March 2011. She lived in Romania for many years, but currently lives in Hungary.