Everyday life
For salaried employees, working hours are set at forty hours a week. At school, the day lasts four to five hours for primary school pupils, and six to seven for secondary school pupils. In many schools, there's not enough space, and pupils have to share classrooms: some have classes in the morning, others in the afternoon. There are no fixed meal times. In fact, restaurants are often open non-stop, from morning to night. Lunch can be quick and light: city dwellers like to go to the corner kiosk and buy a covrig (a kind of pretzel) or a pateu (a salted puff pastry). At weekends, Romanian city dwellers like to take a stroll in the park or the shopping malls. In fine weather, barbecues(grătar) in the countryside are very popular. On Sundays, many Romanians set off for the day by a lake, in a valley or any other green spot: grilling mici (sausages) and drinking beer, listening to music and chatting. A word has even been coined to describe the followers of this practice, which has become a social phenomenon: they're called grătariști. As for vacations, they are most often spent on the shores of the Black Sea, a reflex that remains from the Communist period, which gave rise to large seaside resorts. Back then, each was dedicated to a specific audience: Costinești for students, Neptun for party cadres... Today's youth prefers Vama Veche, far to the south, a party mecca. More and more Romanians are traveling abroad, especially to visit relatives.
Must-sees at church
For Romanians, who are 86% Orthodox and very religious, baptism(botez) is almost systematic. The ceremony generally takes place a few weeks after birth. The naked child is immersed in holy water by the priest. The wedding(căsătorie or nuntă) is a very important social event. A lot of people are invited and a lot of money is spent to organize a big party. The civil ceremony, at the town hall, is quickly dispatched. The religious service is much longer: the priest reads prayers and passages from the Bible. Then he places wreaths on the heads of the bride and groom, blessing their marriage. The couple circle the altar three times, symbolizing eternity, and kiss the iconostasis. The hearty banquet lasts all night and is accompanied by music, often played by lăutari, traditional musicians. During the meal, a non-religious tradition is sacrificed: the bride is "kidnapped", sometimes taken to a bar or club, and her groom is held to ransom (alcohol or money). Funeral rites are numerous. For three days following the death, the deceased is laid to rest at home, where relatives and friends can gather to pay their respects. At the funeral(înmormântare), the coffin is carried through the village to the church and then to the cemetery. After the funeral, a pomană is organized , a meal where simple dishes such as rice pilaf with chicken and colivă, a traditional preparation based on boiled wheat, are served. Several other pomeni are subsequently organized in memory of the deceased: forty-five days and six months after burial, then every year for seven years.
A changing traditional society
Romanians remain attached to a traditional family model. It is one of the European countries where people marry the most and divorce the least. Single-parent families are rare. However, things are changing, with cohabitation on the increase and young people marrying later and later. The patriarchal model still prevails. Domestic chores are largely the responsibility of women, who are much less well represented than men in politics and the upper echelons of the economy. Homosexuality was only decriminalized in 2001, and homophobia is still widespread. However, the situation of LGBTQ people has improved in recent years.
The soul of villages
Despite forced urbanization under Communism and the rural exodus, the sat (village) remains the soul of Romanian society and popular culture. Some 45% of the population lives outside the cities, a huge proportion compared to Western Europe. In recent years, we've even seen a return to the villages. City dwellers, fed up with urban living conditions or driven out by unemployment, are retreating to the countryside, where at least they can cultivate a plot of land for their own consumption. Many city dwellers still maintain strong links with their home village. They go there for festivals, vacations and picnics. Each home is a small, self-sufficient world: each grows its own vegetables and a little grain, raises a few animals, distills its own țuică, makes its own hay... The millstones, the carts, the free-roaming animals, the villagers chatting on a bench or dressing up in their traditional Sunday best: these images of Epinal charm visitors, who will also find a strong sense of hospitality in the countryside. But many villages are still off the beaten track, or have no paved roads at all. Some have no running water or sewage system. The well at the entrance to the house or the toilet at the bottom of the garden are still a reality. Thousands of homes are still without electricity.
In the city, life in blocks
Under Communism, large concrete blocks of flats sprang up like mushrooms in every city, and sometimes even in the countryside. Today, these blocks, as they're known, still house a large part of the urban population. Viața la bloc has become a common expression. It's also the title of a hit song from the 1990s, which describes everyday life in these blocks: the broken-down elevator, cockroaches in the kitchen, hot water cuts or radiators that don't work... Inside, the apartments are often small, poorly soundproofed. The blocks are more or less pleasant, depending on whether or not they've been refurbished. In Bucharest, they often form lively neighborhoods, surrounded by shops, large trees and playgrounds.
