Eastern eggs in Bucarest

It was three years ago.

I was in Bucarest during Eastern time, alone.

The lady from downstairs, invited me in, when she show me admiring the quantity of eggs she was preparing for Eastern. These are only a few of them.

I went away with three too, and put them on my table, until finally I decided to eat them. But she did give me also two eggs without anything inside, wonderfully decorated, one of them I still have as decoration. The other one was dropped by one of my grand children while they admired it. Oups! Fragile!

Eggs are a tradition in Hungary too, were the young men go to put water (or perfume) on young girls. I remember when I was 14 waiting, hoping, someone will come to arose me too, but only my neighborhood college got many coming to her. That was my saddest Eastern, because I waiting for something I could not get, something not depending on me.

What you do in Romania for Eastern? the young woman I met a week ago asked me. One clicks two eggs together, each in someone else hand. "Christ resuscitated" sais one, "Really he had" answers the other.

Of course, Eastern is a very old festival of spring, even older the 2000 years. Pesah, the Jew Eastern is about escaping the Pharaon from Egypt and of not being slaves any more. In the dessert one could not bake bread and that is why one eats Matzos for a week. At least, of course that is the tradition.

I am sure, before that is even older costumes that were there to show the happiness of spring, renewal coming.

When I was child, some of my family invited us and hid Matzos and the children finding it got a gift, and we, at home made red eggs, I learned even to paint them. I also learned to open two small holes and get out what was inside, so the hand painted egg does not alter.

But no boys arriving to our house. Of course, I had not interest in them all the year, so it was finally my choice. First time I really looked at a boy, I was already 23 years old, until then I just dreamed. Dreams do not get you a lover, do not get you a partner, even not to kiss you!

You have at first at least look at them, tell them by your look that you are at least, interested!

Finally, at 23 I did look, and I did, for the first time in my life, get at least kissed. And kissed back. Nothing more. I did not think he was serious enough. I did not think he loved me or I did him, also perhaps, who knows. Anyway, I went away for a month and he went out with one of my girlfriends and kissed her. Then it was so easy finally to drop him, instead of agonizing "should I or not go farther?"

So many things happened Easter time in my life!

I was 25 when we went to a market to buy cheese and tomatoes to pick nick and to the forest with another boy, with whom I dated for more then a year already, and there, in the deep forest - was it really there? that I decided, I have waited enough. I did not want to arrive at exact 25 without becoming a woman.

We went to an attic room his friend had. I read him a poem. He kissed me. Later, he did become the father of my children. But it all begun Eastern time.