At the time of my growing up and youth, there was no Valentine's Day and there was no Mother's Day. They were all united in one day, March 8th. This International Women's Day was celebrated in Eastern Europe much more than in Western Europe, and to my delight, this beautiful tradition has continued to this day. This morning, a colleague from Moldova wrote to me that today is still widely celebrated in their country and that in Moldova it is a holiday and a non-working day today. A Polish friend told me a couple of years ago that they also celebrate Women's Day. In England it is mentioned in the news, but it seems to have no deeper meaning to most people.
When I was a little girl in elementary school, for March 8th we wrote cards to our mothers and gave them flowers. If we didn't have carnations and roses, we would simply pick the snow drops outside. We also gave gifts to the female teachers at the school in the form of bouquets of flowers or chocolates for which the whole class collected money. And we, little women, would get presents, sometimes from our fathers and brothers, and sometimes from classmates. I remember well the chocolate I got from the boys on this day. In the former Yugoslavia where I grew up, there were chocolates with a white wrapper on which was a red heart and it said, "I love you" or "Only you", I think I got the first such chocolate as a girl aged 8-9. A few years later, on March 8th, I got three chocolates, from three boys. I have no idea who they were anymore, but I remember the chocolate well, as well as the combination of joy and shyness when I received them. Before I started writing this article, I googled a bit and discovered that these same chocolates are still produced in Serbia and I am attaching a photo here.
On this occasion, I wish all my dear friends, my daughter and all women a wonderful Women's Day.
Love,
Kristina
Monday, March 8th, 2021.
Sretan Dan zena!
U vrijeme mog odrastanja I mladosti nije postojalo Valentinvo I nije postojao Majcin dan, odnosno sve je to bilo ujedinjeno u jednom danu, 8. Martu. Taj internacionalni Dan zena bio je slavljen u Istocnoj Evropi puno vise nego u Zapadnoj I ta lijepa tradicija se na moju radost I do danas nastavila. Jutros mi je pisala kolegica Moldovka da se danasnji dan kod njih jos naveliko slavi te da je u Moldaviji danasnji dan praznik I neradni dan. Prijateljica Poljakinja mi je pred par godina rekla da se I kod njih slavi Dan zena na danasnji dan. U Engleskoj se spomene na vijestima, ali nema neko dublje znacenje gotovo ninakoga.
Kad sam bila mala djevojcica u osnovnoj skoli na danasnji smo dan nasim mamama pisali cestitke I darivli im cvijece. Ako nismo imale karanfile I ruze ubrali bi visibabe. Uciteljicama u skoli smo poklanjali poklone u vidu buketa cvijeca ili bombonjere za koje je citav razred sakpio novac. I mi male zene dobivale bi poklone, sto od svojih oceva I brace, a sto od kolega iz razreda. Meni su se najvise usjekle u sijecanje cokolade koje sam od deckica dobivala na ovaj dan. U bivsoj Jugoslaviji u kojoj sam odrastala postojale su cokolade sa bijelim omotom na kojem je bilo crveno srce I na njima je pisalo “Volim te” ili “Samo ti”, Mislim da sam prvu takovu cokoladu dobila kao djevojcica u dobi od 8-9 godina. Nekoliko godina kasnije, na jedan 8. Mart dobila sam tri cokolade, od tri deckica. Pojma vise nemam tko su oni bili, ali cokolada se dobro sjecam kao I kombinacije radosti I sramezljivosti kad sam ih dobivala. Prije nego sam pocela pisati ovaj clanak progooglala sam malo I otkrila da se te iste cokolade jos uvijek proizvode u Srbiji I prilazem njihovu fotografiju.
Svim dragim prijateljicama, svojoj kceri I svim zenama ovim putem cestitam Dan zena.
S ljubavlju
Kristina
Ponedeljak, 8. ozujak 2021.
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